Catheter assemblies including an interfacial pH controller for maintaining hydration liquid pH are provided.

A vessel including a thermoplastic wall enclosing a lumen is disclosed. The wall supports an SiO.sub.x composite barrier coating or layer, for which x is from 1.8 to 2.4, between the wall and the lumen. High Resolution X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) shows the presence of an interface between the composite barrier coating or layer and the wall or substrate. In one aspect, the interface has at least 1 mol. % O.sub.3—Si—C covalent bonding, as a proportion of the O.sub.3—Si—C covalent bonding plus SiO.sub.4 bonding. In another aspect, the interface has an Si 2p chemical shift to lower binding energy (eV), compared to the binding energy of SiO.sub.4 bonding. The result is a tightly adherent composite barrier coating or layer having a high degree of adhesion to the substrate under practical use conditions. Methods of applying the composite barrier coating or layer are also disclosed.

The present disclosure is drawn to antimicrobial implantable medical devices, and can include an implantable medical device, and an antimicrobial metal applied to an exterior surface of at least a portion of the implantable medical that is positionable within a body tissue or traverses the body tissue when surgically placed (using surgical instruments beyond merely a needle or catheter port) for implantation.

The invention relates to a method for lubricating a component consisting of a hydrophilic compound crosslinked by means of a water-soluble transition metal chelate.

Embodiments of the invention include a multi-lumen catheter for extracting or aspirating a blood clot or thrombus from arterial or veinous sites. Other embodiments are also included herein.

Antimicrobial metal ion coatings and implants including them. In particular, described herein are coatings including an anodic metal (e.g., silver and/or zinc and/or copper) that is co-deposited with a cathodic metal (e.g., palladium, platinum, gold, molybdenum, titanium, iridium, osmium, rhodium, manganese, niobium or rhenium) on a substrate so that the anodic metal is galvanically released as antimicrobial ions when the apparatus is exposed to a bodily fluid. The anodic metal may be at least about 25 percent by volume of the coating, resulting in a network of anodic metal with less than 20% of the anodic metal in the coating fully encapsulated by cathodic metal. The implant may be configured as an implant such as a bone-screw or intramedullary rod-like body configured to receive a treatment cartridge having a coating as described.

Nitric oxide-releasing materials, methods of making nitric oxide-releasing materials, and uses of nitric oxide-releasing materials are provided. The nitric oxide-releasing materials include a mesoporous silica core and an outer surface having a plurality of nitric oxide donors. In an exemplary aspects, the nitric oxide-releasing material includes a mesoporous diatomaceous earth core, and an outer surface having a plurality of S-nitroso-N-acetyl-penicillamine groups covalently attached thereto. Uses of the nitric oxide-releasing materials can include coatings for medical devices such as catheters, grafts, and stents; wound gauzes; acne medications; and antiseptic mouthwashes; among others.

A substrate subject to degradation at temperatures above 100° C. is coated with a nanostructured ceramic coating having a thickness in excess of 100 nm, formed on a surface of the substrate, wherein a process temperature for deposition of the nanostructured coating does not exceed 90° C. The coating may be photocatalytic, photovoltaic, or piezoelectric. The coating, when moistened and exposed to ultraviolet light or sunlight, advantageously generates free radicals, which may be biocidal, deodorizing, or assist in degradation of surface deposits on the substrate after use. The substrate may be biological or organic, and may have a metallic or conductive intermediate layer.

There is provided a method for decreasing leakage of matter from an object to a surrounding, said object being coated with a coating at least partially applied on the object, said coating comprising an at least partially covering layer comprising silver, said object optionally comprising area(s) without said layer, said coating comprising metal particles applied on the layer and optionally on areas without said layer, said metal particles comprising palladium and at least one metal selected from the group consisting of gold, ruthenium, rhodium, osmium, iridium, niobium, neodymium and platinum and wherein the amount of the metal particles is in the interval 0.01-8 μg/cm.sup.2. Advantages include that leakage of matter such as latex allergens of metal ions can be reduced while the coating is both biocompatible and antimicrobial. Further, the blood clotting can be reduced.

Systems and methods are provided for implementing machine learning techniques to distinguish a real identity, such as a set of identity information representing a real person, from a synthetic identity that may include portions of real identity information. Attributes regarding a target identity derived from a variety of retrieved data records may be provided as input to multiple machine learning models that generate scores associated with the potential of the target identity being synthetic. The scores may be combined and compared to a threshold to generate a determination of whether the target identity is a synthetic identity.