Innovative cold atmospheric plasma (iCAP) decreases corneal ulcer formation and bacterial loads and improves anterior chamber health in methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus keratitis

Bacterial keratitis is a vision-threatening infection of the cornea that is typically treated with antibiotics. However, antibiotics sometimes fail to eradicate the infection and do not prevent or repair the damage caused directly by the bacteria or the host immune response to the infection. Our group previously demonstrated that treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa keratitis in rabbits with innovative cold atmospheric plasma (iCAP) resulted in reduced edema, ulcer formation, and bacterial load. In this study, we investigated the efficacy of iCAP treatment in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). New Zealand white rabbits were infected intrastromally with MRSA then treated with iCAP, moxifloxacin, vancomycin, or combination of iCAP with each antibiotic to assess the safety and efficacy of iCAP treatment compared to untreated controls and antibiotics. iCAP treatment significantly reduced bacterial loads and inflammation, improved anterior chamber clarity, and prevented corneal ulceration compared to untreated controls and antibiotic treatment. Safety assessments of grimace test scores and tear production showed that iCAP was not significantly different from either antibiotic treatment in terms of distress or tear production. Combination iCAP/antibiotic treatment did not appear to provide significant added benefit over iCAP alone. Our findings suggest that the addition of iCAP may be a viable tool in reducing damage to the cornea and anterior chamber of the eye following S. aureus keratitis.

Radio Frequency Heating of Washable Conductive Textiles for Bacteria and Virus Inactivation

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has increased the use of single-use medical fabrics such as surgical masks, respirators, and other personal protective equipment (PPE), which have faced worldwide supply chain shortages. Reusable PPE is desirable in light of such shortages; however, the use of reusable PPE is largely restricted by the difficulty of rapid sterilization. In this work, we demonstrate successful bacterial and viral inactivation through remote and rapid radio frequency (RF) heating of conductive textiles. The RF heating behavior of conductive polymer-coated fabrics was measured for several different fabrics and coating compositions. Next, to determine the robustness and repeatability of this heating response, we investigated the textile's RF heating response after multiple detergent washes. Finally, we show a rapid reduction of bacteria and virus by RF heating our conductive fabric. 99.9% of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was removed from our conductive fabrics after only 10 min of RF heating; human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) was completely sterilized after 5 min of RF heating. These results demonstrate that RF heating conductive polymer-coated fabrics offer new opportunities for applications of conductive textiles in the medical and/or electronic fields.