A UVC device for intra-luminal disinfection of catheters: In vitro tests on soft polymer tubes contaminated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans

Bacterial colonization of central venous catheters (CVCs) causes severe complications in patients. As a result, developing methods to remove and prevent bacterial and fungal colonization of CVCs is imperative. Recently, we have demonstrated that disinfection by radiation of polymer tubes with ultraviolet C light (UVC) is possible. In this paper we present dose response results using a newly developed UVC disinfection device, which can be connected to a Luer catheter hub. The device was tested on soft polymer tubes contaminated with a pallet of microorganisms, including Candida albicans, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (~ 10(3) CFU/mL). The tubes were equipped with a modified catheter hub and interfaced to the disinfection device via a middle piece separating the disinfection device from the hub. The contamination lasted for 3 hours prior to treatment to simulate an aseptic breach. Our results show UVC killing in a dose and time dependent manner, with no viable counts after 2 min of radiation for bacteria. Killing of C. albicans was obtained at > 20 min in an UVC absorbing suspension. We believe our results to be transferable directly to the clinic, and we are currently working on a setup for clinical trial.