UV-Induced prevention of biofilm formation inside medical tubes and catheters

Biofilm formation inside medical tubes and catheters may often cause unwanted infections, illness andimpaired wound healing during medical treatment, resulting in extended hospitalization and - in worst case– life threatening conditions of the patients. In fact, it is estimated, that the infection risk connected withthe use of medical tubes and catheters is the direct cause of more than 60% of all infections acquired inEuropean hospitals.

Once formed, the biofilm is generally very tough to suppress by either the body’simmunity system or by use of antibiotics, which may even favor the population of multi resistant bacteriacultures. Prevention of biofilm formation inside the tube or catheter, without risk of developing multiresistance, may be achieved by creating a UV-exposed environment in the interior.

This may be realized bytransforming the tube itself into an optical waveguide supporting UV-light propagation or by other meansintegrating optical fiber technology into the tube walls, such as to gradually release UV-light into theinterior, efficiently killing off bacteria present inside.