The BENG 187A-D sequence is a Senior Design practicum course that provides graduating Bioengineering students at UC San Diego the opportunity to formulate and investigate an engineering research project of their choosing. Over the past year, Group 1 centralized its efforts to leverage blue-light technology for sterilization of medical catheters to uncover the potential of photo-dynamic therapy in the clinical context, given the high incidence of Catheter Associated UTIs (CAUTIs) prevalent among hospital admissions in the United States. A low-fidelity, scaled proof-of-Concept (PoC) construct of a blue-light safeguarded device was devised by designing an LED-mounted circuit prototype encapsulated by a heat-shrunk thermoplastic. The prototype was evaluated for bactericidal potency using standard microbial assays, to test the efficacy of 400nm blue-light LEDs in stunting E.Coli proliferation in synthetic urine samples over an extended incubation period. Prototypes were constructed using 400 nm (blue) and 393 nm(violet) surface mounted LEDs in series and parallel circuit arrays to assess the potency of wavelengths in the UV - VLS range.

Blue light sterilization is currently being researched as an alternative sterilization method for medical devices and other clinical areas. For instance, blue light therapy is being used for treatment against the bacterium P. acnes that causes acne and lesions on the face. Unlike UV radiation, blue light has been proven through research to be a more practical physical phenomenon to exploit due to its safety while working with mammalian cultures. The current issue that is plaguing hospitals in the United States is the frequent occurence of this specific Hospital Associated Infections (HAIs), which account for ~75% of UTIs that people tend to contract.

This healthcare issue is a prominent multi-stakeholder issue as large healthcare costs are incurred by R&D entities and clinics. Hospitals spend about $28-45 billions of dollars annually on HAIs that could be prevented for patients and reduce costs for healthcare systems by the implementation of smarter and better sterilization methods. A solution could be blue light incorporated within a catheter tube system. With even more research, blue light has the vast potential to improve global healthcare.

This project was conducted under the guidance of Dr. Madhu Alagiri, M.D. at Rady's Children Hospital and his team, Dr. Le Hoang Kim and Dr. Katy Patras. Our partnered efforts were aimed to enhance catheter use in hospital settings by promoting physical techniques for sterilization.