Novel Anti-Infective Urinary Catheter and Drainage System

Background & Unmet Need

• Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are the most common type of hospital acquired infections, with over 250,000 incidences per year
• The majority (75%) of hospital-acquired UTIs are linked to conventional indwelling urinary catheters
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that the cost of treating Catheter-associated UTIs (CA-UTIs) is $350 million per year
• However, new catheter materials and alternative catheter designs have thus far failed to significantly reduce the incidence of CA-UTIs
• There are ~75 M indwelling Foley catheters utilized annually worldwide, with an estimated global Foley catheter market of ~$1 B in 2018
• Unmet Need: There is a pressing need for innovations in catheter design that reduce the risk of CA-UTIs

Technology Overview

• The Technology: A novel urinary catheter and drainage system designed to reduce the risk of developing CA-UTIs by using soft robotic actuation to actively open the drainage eyelet without changing the cost of catheter production
• The revised catheter has a drainage eyelet that resembles a slit, such that it is closed during introduction into the urethra, partially open once in the bladder, and fully open once inflated (as one would do for the retention balloon)
• This novel design reduces the likelihood of a biofilm being loaded into the eyelet during introduction as is the case with conventional catheters
• PoC Data: In a simulated experiment, the novel catheter significantly reduced contamination (12x less) compared to a standard catheter
• The novel catheter was also shown to not impair flow rate compared to a standard catheter, and retained its actuation ability after repeated usage

Technology Applications

• Reduced incidence of CA-UTIs in patients that require an indwelling catheter
• Improved treatment and outcomes for patients suffering from urinary incontinence

Technology Advantages

• Novel catheter design is amenable to production with existing machinery, thus no increased costs
• Soft robotic actuation requires simple inflation, requiring no additional training for nurses compared to use of conventional catheters