Removal and dispersal of biofluid films by powered medical devices: Modeling infectious agent spreading in dentistry

Summary: Medical procedures can disperse infectious agents and spread disease. Particularly, dental procedures may pose a high risk of disease transmission as they use high-powered instruments operating within the oral cavity that may contain infectious microbiota or viruses. Here we assess the abil...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Ian Eames, Francesco D'Aiuto, Somayeh Shahreza, Yousef Javanmardi, Ramanarayanan Balachandran, Martin Hyde, Yuan-Ling Ng, Kishor Gulabivala, Sara Watson, Hywel Davies, Nicolas Szita, Janette Khajeh, Jeanie Suvan, Emad Moeendarbary
Formato: article
Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: Elsevier 2021
Materias:
Q
Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/acd17e8c87e74af2ac811e953a706c81
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario:Summary: Medical procedures can disperse infectious agents and spread disease. Particularly, dental procedures may pose a high risk of disease transmission as they use high-powered instruments operating within the oral cavity that may contain infectious microbiota or viruses. Here we assess the ability of powered dental devices in removing the biofluid films and identified mechanical, hydrodynamic, and aerodynamic forces as the main underlying mechanisms of removal and dispersal processes. Our results indicate that potentially infectious agents can be removed and dispersed immediately after dental instrument engagement with the adherent biofluid film, while the degree of their dispersal is rapidly depleted owing to the removal of the source and dilution by the coolant water. We found that droplets created by high-speed drill interactions typically travel ballistically, while aerosol-laden air tends to flow as a current over surfaces. Our mechanistic investigation offers plausible routes for reducing the spread of infection during invasive medical procedures.