Impact of mechanical stress on flexible tubing used for biomedical applications: Characterization of the damages and impact on the patient's health.

Abstract

Flexible tubing is a key part of a lot of medical devices used in hospital, but may be subjected to a lot of various mechanical stresses that can led to the failure or to complications for the patients. The nature and causes of these mechanical stresses were listed for peristaltic pump tubing, infusion set tubing and catheters. Their consequences in term of tubing damages and particular contamination were reported. The impact of the chemical nature of the tubing, of its size and also the impact of various parameters of the clinical acts were reviewed. Last the consequences for the patient's health were discussed.