Development of a novel catheter for early diagnosis of bacterial meningitis caused by the ventricular drain

A novel smart catheter for the early diagnosis of bacterial meningitis caused by the use of an external ventricular drainage catheter was developed and characterized in this work. The specific aim is the rapid differentiation between bacterial meningitis and aseptic meningitis by continuous measurement of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) lactate levels. An accurate and stable lactate biosensor was developed and integrated at the proximal portion of the intraventricular catheter to achieve this goal. The in vitro experimental data showed that the lactate measurements in the clinical CSF solutions were accurate and reliable over the course of 7 days.