Plasma-polyplumbagin-modified microfiber probes: a functional material approach to monitoring vascular access line contamination

Minimising Blood Stream Infection: Developing New Materials for Intravascular Catheters

Catheter related blood stream infection is an ever present hazard for those patients requiring venous access and particularly for those requiring long term medication. The implementation of more rigorous care bundles and greater adherence to aseptic techniques have yielded substantial reductions in infection rates but the latter is still far from acceptable and continues to place a heavy burden on patients and healthcare providers. While advances in engineering design and the arrival of functional materials hold considerable promise for the development of a new generation of catheters, many challenges remain. The aim of this review is to identify the issues that presently impact catheter performance and provide a critical evaluation of the design considerations that are emerging in the pursuit of these new catheter systems.

New Developments in Smart Bandage Technologies for Wound Diagnostics

The pH of wound fluid has long been recognized as an important diagnostic for assessing wound condition, but as yet there are few technological options available to the clinician. The availability of sensors that can measure wound pH, either in the clinic or at home could significantly improve clinical outcome - particularly in the early identification of complications such as infection. New material designs and electrochemical research strategies that are being targeted at wound diagnostics are identified and a critical overview of emerging research that could be pivotal in setting the direction for future devices is provided.

Molecular Wiring in Smart Dressings: Opening a New Route to Monitoring Wound pH

It has been proposed that fluctuations in wound pH can give valuable insights into the healing processes in chronic wounds, but acquiring such data can be a technological challenge especially where there is little sample available. Developments in voltammetric pH sensing have opened up new avenues for the design of probes that can function in ultra-small volumes and can be inherently disposable but, as yet few can meet the demands of wound monitoring. A preliminary investigation of the pH response of a new redox wire prepared from a peptide homopolymer of tryptophan is presented and its potential applicability as a sensing material for use in smart dressings is critically discussed.