Germ-Zapping Lasers Help Cut Down on Infections After Surgery
Medical technology company Ondine’s photodisinfection process kills pathogens in a person’s nostrils.
A nonthermal laser is used as part of Ondine’s process for destroying microbes in the nose.
Source: Ondine Biomedical
Surgery is one of the leading ways patients acquire infections in hospitals, and their noses are a major part of the problem. Germs in the nasal passages can travel to the site of an incision and cause minor skin infections or even sepsis and death. To reduce the risk, a company based in Vancouver is commercializing a way to zap those bugs right before an operation.
Ondine Biomedical Inc.’s process, called photodisinfection, involves swabbing the nose with a blue solution that clings to germs. Then a cable connected to a laser-generating machine is held to the nose. When the machine is turned on, the light activates the liquid, which is sensitive to a laser light calibrated to a certain wavelength, and destroys the pathogens.