Catheters, intravenous lines and other types of surgical tubing are a medical necessity in the treatment of many diseases. But the patient's experience with these devices is rarely comfortable. Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology think they have found a solution to that.
Hydrogel laminates
Researchers have developed a gel-like material that can be used to coat standard plastic or rubber objects and equipment. This gives them a softer, more slippery exterior that makes using them feel a lot more comfortable for the patient. The coating can even be modified in such a way that signs of infection can be detected and treated.
The team describes their method as follows: a layer of hydrogel (a soggy, slippery polymer consisting mainly of water) is bonded to common elastomers such as latex, rubber and silicone. This results in 'hydrogel laminates', as the developers call them, that are simultaneously soft, stretchable, slippery and impermeable by viruses and other small molecules.
The team, led by Xuanhe Zhao, bound layers of hydrogel to various elastomer-based medical devices, including catheters and intravenous tubing. They found that the coatings were highly durable and could withstand bending and twisting without cracking. The coatings were also extremely slippery, giving much less friction than standard uncoated catheters - a property that could greatly reduce patient discomfort.
Condoms
The group also tested the coating on another commonly used elastomeric product: condoms. Apart from making existing latex condoms more comfortable to use, the coating could also help improve their safety; when hydrogel is combined with drugs, it can stop an allergic reaction to latex. "We have shown that hydrogel has the potential to replace existing elastomers," states Zhao. "We now have a method to integrate gels with other materials. We think this has the potential to be applied to many different medical devices that come into contact with the body."
By: Kelly Bakker
Source: MIT
