The fouling and cleaning of venous catheters : a possible optimization of the process using intermittent flushing

Laurent Royon (1) , Durussel J.J. (1) , J. Merckx (2) , P. Flaud (1) , Vigier J.P. (2) , G. Guiffant (1)

1 MSC - Matière et Systèmes Complexes
2 Hôpital Necker - Enfants Malades [AP-HP]

The aim of this note is mainly to report some experimental results obtained for mass transport under controlled flow conditions in a system where convection and diffusion are coupled with chemical reactions. One special point of the process is that the different time scales for convection-diffusion and physico-chemical processes are of the same order thus leading to a possible optimisation of the process. Then a phenomenological description is suggested giving a possible description of the process. The context of the problem is of crucial practical importance in the framework of medical application and can be described in the following way.

Mots clés: catheters; adhesion; fouling; flushing; cleaning; convection; mass transfer.; mass transfer

Domaines: Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des fluides [physics.class-ph]; Ingénierie biomédicale

Laurent Royon, Durussel J.J., J. Merckx, P. Flaud, Vigier J.P., et al.. The fouling and cleaning of venous catheters : a possible optimization of the process using intermittent flushing. Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2011, pp.820-823. ⟨10.1016/j.cherd.2011.10.004⟩. ⟨hal-00651080⟩