English

Hydrodynamics of catheter biofilm formation

Fluid Dynamics 2009-11-19 v1 Medical Physics

Abstract

A hydrodynamic model is proposed to describe one of the most critical problems in intensive medical care units: the formation of biofilms inside central venous catheters. The incorporation of approximate solutions for the flow-limited diffusion equation leads to the conclusion that biofilms grow on the internal catheter wall due to the counter-stream diffusion of blood through a very thin layer close to the wall. This biological deposition is the first necessary step for the subsequent bacteria colonization.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0911.3580,
  title  = {Hydrodynamics of catheter biofilm formation},
  author = {Oscar Sotolongo-Costa and Manuel Arias-Zugasti and Daniel Rodriguez-Perez and Sergio Martinez-Escobar and Antonio Fernandez-Barbero},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0911.3580},
  year   = {2009}
}

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Submitted for publication