Images from endotracheal tubes: a) 5000× SEM image of 120-h postintubation endotracheal tube showing the presence of extracellular polymeric substrate; (b) 5000× SEM image of same endotracheal tube in a different location; (c) 15,000× SEM of same endotracheal tube focusing in on a cluster of cells; and (d) corresponding OCT image. doi:10.1117/1.JBO.20.12.126010 Credit: the authors.
Bacterial biofilms forming within endotracheal tubes, which cause pneumonia, are a common killer for ICU patients on ventilators. Researchers from University of California Irvine and the Beckman Laser Institute are now pointing to the use of three-dimensional optical coherence tomography (OCT), the same technique used to assess blood vasculature from within, to spot signs of bacterial films within endo tubes.
The team gathered endotracheal tubes from actual ICU patients and used OCT to spot the bacterial formations. The team compared their findings against what a scanning electron microscope could see, showing great correlation and maybe one day leading to an easy to use device for spotting biofilm formations.
Study in Journal of Biomedical Optics: Visualizing biofilm formation in endotracheal tubes using endoscopic three-dimensional optical coherence tomography…