Department of Medical Equipment Technology, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Majmaah University, Al Majmaah, 11952, Saudi Arabia.
Center for Remote Health Technologies and Systems, Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
Sci Rep. 2024 Oct 30;14(1):26167. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-76652-y.
Intravenous (IV) catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSIs) cause significant risks in healthcare, necessitating advancements in catheter design and materials. This study investigates the effectiveness of Ecoflex, a silicone-based material, in studying CRBSIs through the development of skin-like replicas that mimic human skin properties for use in wearable sensing devices. We characterized the replica's bioinspired surface roughness, wettability, bacterial adhesion, and mechanical properties and validated its performance using in vitro IV simulation. The results demonstrated that the bioinspired model replicates human skin textures with less than 7.5% error for surface roughness ranging from 0.05 μm to 6.3 μm. Wettability tests revealed that the artificial sebum application significantly reduced the static contact angles for deionized water and artificial sweat. Comprehensive mechanical testing revealed material high elasticity and resilience, suitable for dynamic biomedical applications. Bacterial adhesion studies using Staphylococcus epidermidis showed varying adhesion patterns influenced by surface roughness, highlighting the potential for material texture to impact infection risk. In IV therapy simulations, we observed bacterial growth dynamics over the incubation period. Our findings suggest that Ecoflex-based skin-like replicas can serve as a valuable tool for developing and testing new catheters, while the potential for use in other medical innovation devices, including wearable sensing devices, ultimately contributes to improved patient outcomes and infection control strategies.
静脉（IV）导管相关血流感染（CRBSI）在医疗保健中带来重大风险，这需要在导管设计和材料方面取得进展。本研究通过开发模仿人体皮肤特性的皮肤样复制品来研究 CRBSI，探讨了基于硅酮的材料 Ecoflex 的效果，这种复制品可用于可穿戴感测设备。我们对复制品的仿生表面粗糙度、润湿性、细菌黏附性和机械性能进行了特征描述，并通过体外 IV 模拟验证了其性能。结果表明，仿生模型的表面粗糙度复制了人体皮肤纹理，误差小于 7.5%，表面粗糙度范围从 0.05μm 到 6.3μm。润湿性测试表明，人工皮脂的应用显著降低了去离子水和人工汗液的静态接触角。全面的机械测试显示出材料的高弹性和弹性，适用于动态生物医学应用。使用表皮葡萄球菌进行细菌黏附研究表明，表面粗糙度会影响细菌黏附模式，这突显了材料纹理可能会影响感染风险。在静脉治疗模拟中，我们观察到孵育期间细菌生长的动态。我们的研究结果表明，基于 Ecoflex 的皮肤样复制品可以作为开发和测试新型导管的有价值工具，而在其他医疗创新设备（包括可穿戴感测设备）中的潜在用途最终有助于改善患者结局和感染控制策略。
