In Situ Sensor Electrode Patterning on Urinary Catheters towards Infection Prevention

This paper presents a novel in situ fabrication strategy for patterning electrodes directly on a urinary catheter surface via an innovative electroplating process. Bacterial biofilms present an enormous problem on catheters, leading to severe catheter-associated urinary tract infections. Our approach enables biofilm monitoring via real-time impedance measurement without interfering with the operation of the catheter and overcoming manufacturing challenges associated with fabricating devices on flexible substrates and subsequently conforming them to complex, curved surfaces vulnerable to biofilm. The fabrication process yields isolated gold electrodes directly adhered to the inner lumen of a urinary catheter. These electrodes maintain their integrity after testing with biofilm formation as determined by impedance spectroscopy. The sensor displayed a significant decrease in impedance of approximately 10% over the 24-hour growth period, as opposed to a slight increase of 19% in control experiment, indicating the potential for this approach as a facile strategy for fabricating biomonitoring electrodes for safer use of medical devices that are vulnerable to bacterial colonization and infection.