Dual-action 'slippery' catheter fights bacteria

A super-slippery coating being developed at a University of Wisconsin–Madison lab could benefit medical catheters, factory equipment, and even someday, oil tankers.

Robots to the rhino rescue

The critically endangered northern white rhino might have more of a chance thanks to a partnership between the University of California San Diego and San Diego Zoo Global.

Remedy against superbacteria found in crowberry

Researchers in Oulu have found small fragments of an antibacterial protein, also known as peptides, in a microbe living in crowberry. The peptide is able to destroy bacteria that cause infections. Based on the peptide, a ...

The smallest steerable catheter

Scientists have developed a very small magnetic steerable catheter for minimally invasive surgery. Thanks to its variable stiffness, surgeons can perform more complex movements inside the body with a lower risk of injury ...

Painting a clearer picture of the heart with machine learning

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a condition in which plaque forms on the walls of coronary arteries, causing them to narrow. Eventually, this could lead to a heart attack, or death. This condition is now the single largest ...

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Catheter

In medicine, a catheter (pronounced /ˈkæθɪtər/) is a tube that can be inserted into a body cavity, duct, or vessel. Catheters thereby allow drainage, administration of fluids or gases, or access by surgical instruments. The process of inserting a catheter is catheterization. In most uses, a catheter is a thin, flexible tube ("soft" catheter), though in some uses, it is a larger, solid ("hard") catheter. A catheter left inside the body, either temporarily or permanently, may be referred to as an indwelling catheter. A permanently inserted catheter may be referred to as a permcath (originally a trademark).

The ancient Syrians created catheters from reeds. "Katheter - καθετήρ" originally referred to an instrument that was inserted such as a plug. The word "katheter" in turn came from "kathiemai - καθίεμαι" meaning "to sit". The ancient Greeks inserted a hollow metal tube through the urethra into the bladder to empty it and the tube came to be known as a "katheter".

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