Class
Article
College
College of Engineering
Department
English Department
Faculty Mentor
Yu Huang
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
Coatings are an important component of many medical devices. They can change the characteristics of these medical devices including biocompatibility, lubricity, and effectiveness. Many of Merit Medical’s devices, including their transradial catheter, rely on hydrophilic coating to function properly. The hydrophilic coating found on the introducer sheath comes into direct contact with a patient’s vascular and dermal tissue to ease the insertion of the catheter. An incomplete coating on this device could lead to tissue damage, patient discomfort or pain, and device failure. These coatings are often difficult to detect since the coating is completely colorless. In current practices, the only method used to determine coating presence uses Congo Red, a toxic dye that renders the catheter unusable. If a statistically significant number of these devices fail this test, the entire batch is assumed to be faulty and must be rejected, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars. Our design aims to introduce a fluorescent additive to the hydrophilic coating to detect the presence of uncoated areas without destroying the device. This additive must also comply with biocompatibility parameters. If successful, this method could be patented and/or implemented in the manufacturing process of this device.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-8-2022 12:00 AM
Included in
Detection of Hydrophilic Coating on Biomedical Devices via Fluorescent Nanoparticles
Logan, UT
Coatings are an important component of many medical devices. They can change the characteristics of these medical devices including biocompatibility, lubricity, and effectiveness. Many of Merit Medical’s devices, including their transradial catheter, rely on hydrophilic coating to function properly. The hydrophilic coating found on the introducer sheath comes into direct contact with a patient’s vascular and dermal tissue to ease the insertion of the catheter. An incomplete coating on this device could lead to tissue damage, patient discomfort or pain, and device failure. These coatings are often difficult to detect since the coating is completely colorless. In current practices, the only method used to determine coating presence uses Congo Red, a toxic dye that renders the catheter unusable. If a statistically significant number of these devices fail this test, the entire batch is assumed to be faulty and must be rejected, resulting in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars. Our design aims to introduce a fluorescent additive to the hydrophilic coating to detect the presence of uncoated areas without destroying the device. This additive must also comply with biocompatibility parameters. If successful, this method could be patented and/or implemented in the manufacturing process of this device.