Inhibits bacteria growth in medical applications
Perma Pure has provided updated data on Nafion dryers, used in anaesthesia monitoring, metabolic testing, and capnography. The dryers have been shown to inhibit the growth of infectious bacteria.
Independent lab testing has confirmed that the company’s Nafion material effectively inhibits the growth of two common bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Both microorganisms can cause a variety of infections including skin lesions, pneumonia, meningitis and endocarditis, said Perma Pure.
Nafion is used in the company’s ME-Series moisture exchangers for breath sample dryers, filters and sample lines to dry or humidify medical gas and breath sample streams. In either drying or humidifying applications, the ME-Series products seek equilibrium with room humidity, transferring water vapour into or out of the tubing in a stable, self-regenerating cycle.
In breath drying applications, such as capnography and anaesthesia monitoring, Nafion’s antibacterial properties reduce the risk of biological growth in sample lines, breathing circuits and within instruments. In humidification of medical gases, such as supplemental oxygen, Nafion presents a superior alternative to devices constructed of materials sensitive to bacterial growth and biofouling, claims the company.
ME-Series Nafion dryers remove only water vapour from gas streams, without altering or removing any of the other elements. The antibacterial membrane tubing does not require power input for operation and there are no moving parts. The company said that with levels of humidification only reaching ambient conditions, there is no threat of rainout in the sample lines.