Catheters in Biological News

Battling bacteria in the blood: Researchers tackle deadly infections

... because they often have long-term intravenous catheters that allow medicines to be given directly into ... part of bloodstream infections associated with catheters is the clumping-together of bacteria on surfaces which is also seen in urinary catheters that cause many thousands of infections each ....

Oh baby, interventional radiology makes childbirth safer

... controlled excessive bleeding in women with a combination of balloon catheters inserted into uterine arteries predelivery (that could be inflated to ... team with obstetricians. The interventional radiologists guided balloon catheters into a woman's left and right uterine artery (preoperative prophylactic ...

Microbot motors fit to swim human arteries

... by reaching parts of the body, like a stroke-damaged cranial artery, that catheters have previously been unable to reach (because of the labyrinthine structure of the brain that catheters are too immobile to safely reach). With the right sensor equipment ...

Autonomous robot detects shrapnel

... babies in utero into the more advanced 3-D scans. Since inventing the technique in 1991, the team has shown its utility by developing specialized catheters and endoscopes for real-time imaging of blood vessels in the heart and brain. In the latest experiments, the robot successfully performed its main ...

Potential for non-invasive brain tumor treatment

... in utero into the more advanced 3-D scans. After inventing the technique in 1991, the team also has shown its utility in developing specialized catheters and endoscopes for real-time imaging of tissues throughout the body. Much of the liposome research was carried out at Duke by David Needham, ...

Chemical found in medical devices impairs heart function

... University School of Medicine have found that a chemical commonly used in the production of such medical plastic devices as intravenous (IV) bags and catheters can impair heart function in rats. Appearing online this week in the American Journal of Physiology , these new findings suggest a possible new ...

Research yields new clues to how we locate objects in space

... like. Doctors are increasingly relying on ultrasound technology to help guide them in a number of surgical procedures, such as placing peripheral catheters and performing breast biopsies. As doctors become more and more reliant on ultrasound, it becomes more important to fully understand and improve use ...

Using the other guy's toolkit: Similarities of pumping blood, oil examined

... to engage engineers from the energy industry with cardiovascular physicians who share common goals: using imaging to identify targets, navigate catheters and drills into those targets, maintain flow in pipelines and blood vessels, prevent these tubes from clogging, repair them when they break down and ...

New 3-D ultrasound could improve stroke diagnosis, care

... scans, which can provide more detailed information. After inventing the technique in 1991, the team has shown its utility in developing specialized catheters and endoscopes for imaging the heart and blood vessels. This is an important step forward for scanning the vessels of the brain through the skull, ...

Together we stand: bacteria organize to survive hostile zones

... Chronic urinary tract infections result from bacterial communities that develop inside human cells. And biofilms cause problems in tissues where catheters have been inserted or where sutures have been used. You can put a patient on antibiotics, and it may seem that the infection has disappeared. ...

Cranberry sauce: good for what ails you

... containing high concentrations of bacteria, are required for infections to develop. Biofilms are the source of infections associated with indwelling catheters and other biomedical devices. When E. coli are cultured over extended periods in solutions containing various concentrations of either ...

Rare Tibetan antelope listed as endangered

... ultrasound arrays, the researchers engineered probes that could fit inside catheters threaded through blood vessels to image the vasculature and heart from the ... cardiac ablation therapy, he added. In such procedures, cardiologists use catheters to burn specific locations on the surface of the heart in patients with ...

3D ultrasound device poised to advance minimally invasive surgery

... ultrasound arrays, the researchers engineered probes that could fit inside catheters threaded through blood vessels to image the vasculature and heart from the ... cardiac ablation therapy, he added. In such procedures, cardiologists use catheters to burn specific locations on the surface of the heart in patients with ...

Antibacterial coatings cut infection rates

... and knee implants and biomedical devices such as catheters could cut infection rates following surgery and ... for the elderly," Professor Griesser said. catheters can also be a source of bacterial infections, ... combat this problem by removing and replacing catheters at frequent intervals, and at considerable cost ...

Students invent protective pouch to enhance cell therapy

... of an index finger, carries blood from the digestive system into the liver. The pouch components are made to be compressed and inserted with catheters that a physician can snake into the abdomen through the femoral vein in the leg. Using real-time imaging technology, an interventional radiologist ...

Swimming 'to the left' gets bacteria upstream, and may promote infection

... who study both flow hydrodynamics and how bacteria propel themselves report that one reason for the high incidence of infections associated with catheters in hospital patients may be that some pathogenic bacteria swim "to the left," in a study published in Physical Review Letters. "Escherichia coli ...

Gene chip technology shows potential for identifying life-threatening blood infection

... ICU patients recovering from surgery, pancreatitis, or trauma from a car accident or fall. Because these patients are also hooked up to IV fluids, catheters or ventilators, they are also prone to bacterial infections, including pneumonia, that can quickly spiral out of control and lead to sepsis. ...

3-D ultrasound scanner could guide robotic surgeries

... in real time from outside the body. As technology enabled ever smaller ultrasound arrays, the researchers engineered probes that could fit inside catheters threaded through blood vessels to view the vasculature and heart from the inside. Earlier this year, the team reported another advance: a 3-D ...

Sensors, a smart dose of medicine for cancer treatment

... says Jaksic. Some types of MOSFETs can also detect radiation. In the INVORAD MOSFET-based system these are used in-vivo, mounted in medical catheters in the form of linear arrays, entering the patient through a cavity. "We're currently testing that device in patients with our clinical partner, ...

Duke engineers develop new 3-D cardiac imaging probe

... all the benefits of the 2-D TEE probe and none of the drawbacks. We can generate sharp, high-contrast images of the whole heart and position heart catheters and ablation devices at the same time. We have already done so in laboratory tests on animals." Smith and his team, including biomedical ...

Substance protects resilient staph bacteria

... immune defense, human antibiotic compounds and salt concentrations similar to levels found on human skin. Dr. Otto's group also used mice fitted with catheters to demonstrate that the S. epidermidis strain deficient of PGA was not able to cause infection while the other strains containing PGA did. ...