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High schooler invented color-changing sutures to detect infection
- osmansec 6y agoAt first I was kind of skeptical because detecting pH has been done for decades (and quite easily) - but her methodology for keeping the dye on the suture was really smart just in general. One thing that would make this really viable is if she could make the color change a bit more extreme. Personally red and dark purple are really hard to tell apart for some people, especially for detecting something as a surgical infectionl.
- mberning 6y agoI agree. Very cool. Having a more dramatic color change would be a must to take it to market and reduce/eliminate false positives. I bet there are specialized chemists that they could work with on a second iteration.
- ta988 6y agoEspecially with blood around in case the suture leaks or there is a bubble of blood...
- mattkrause 6y agoCotton is not a great suture material: low tensile strength when wet and it’ll absorb/wick bodily fluids, which sets the scene for an infection. Catgut and silk were traditionally used, but there are tons of synthetic ones too.
- gameswithgo 6y agoThis is super cool but my first thought was that human skin already changes color to detect infection. Or gets swollen, or leaks pus, etc.
- todd3834 6y agoYes but ideally this will catch it before the infection advances to that level.
- spoonjim 6y agoLight colored human skin changes color a lot. As a dark skinned person, almost none of the skin color indications work for me.
- rin72ka 6y agoI'm a dark skinned person and my skin color changes.
- alisonkisk 6y agoWell, that's a interesting coincidence. The prizewinner in the OP also has a skin color that can't show infection by color. I wonder how many other medical techniques are predicated on assumptions like the color of skin that don't work for everyone, and conversely how many medical challenges are literally invisible to most doctors.
- jfengel 6y agoPulse oximeters have been a notable instance just this year: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/12/16/947226068/dark-skin-can-lead-to-errors-with-pulse-oximeters-used-in-covid-19-treatment https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/12/16/9472260... The problem has been known for some time, but has only been front page news recently. I don't know of any technological improvements to come of this yet, but I hope people are working on it. It might be exactly the kind of thing a bright high schooler could figure out.
- cup 6y agoWhat do her parents do?
- eat_veggies 6y agoI know you're asking this to try to downplay her remarkable achievements. But her parent is a single mother [1] who's an insurance agent [2]. [1] https://wsspaper.com/65234/news/qa-with-science-talent-search-finalist-dasia-taylor-21/ https://wsspaper.com/65234/news/qa-with-science-talent-searc... [2] https://dailyiowan.com/2020/11/18/iowa-city-west-senior-dasia-taylor-launches-apparel-shop/ https://dailyiowan.com/2020/11/18/iowa-city-west-senior-dasi...
- neolog 6y agoReally the question is how did she do that? If she had parents in the field (probably a common scenario), we don't need to know much more. If it's something else, then we can ask if those conditions can be generalized.
- okprod 6y agoHer parent is a single mother, insurance agent.
- blubbity 6y agoHow do you know the question is intended to downplay her remarkable achievements? I first interpreted the question along the lines of Mozart or Tiger Woods and didn't think about it uncharitably until you brought it up.
- Leparamour 6y agoThe whole affair seems to be politicized too much to not question the truthfulness of the claims presented as facts. Also, pH-sensitive dyed wound dressings have been in development for at least a decade by now, at the Fraunhofer institute[1] in Germany. [1]https://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2010/11/dressing-indicates-infections.html https://www.fraunhofer.de/en/press/research-news/2010/11/dre...
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- llaolleh 6y agoI love this story, especially her attitude about wanting to find out for herself and not take anyone else's word. That curiosity and questioning what others have overlooked goes a long way towards discovery.
- refurb 6y agoNeat in theory but what do you do about dried secretions like blood that color or conceal the suture? Or when the suture is covered by some antibiotic or barrier cream?
- alisonkisk 6y agoIndeed, not every solution works in every possible case. Fortunately the person in the OP and many others still have time to perform research on these problems.
- merqurio 6y agoSimilar ideas are already patented [1]. I appreciate the simplicity of her approach, but I'm not sure if she would be able to create a business. I hope her the best. [1]: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20090142275A1/en?q=Infection+detection+sutures&oq=Infection+detection+sutures https://patents.google.com/patent/US20090142275A1/en?q=Infec...
- rowanG077 6y agoWow I was skeptical before I clicked the link but that's not even similar. That's the exact same thing.
- alisonkisk 6y agoThe general idea is obvious: a (literal) litmus test. The details are what make it work, including availability of cheap test materials.
- hatmatrix 6y ago> Although the above-referenced indicators are clas sified as solvatochromic, it should be understood that the present invention is not necessarily limited to any particular mechanism for the color change of the indicator. Even when a solvatochromic indicator is employed, other mechanisms may actually be wholly or partially responsible for the color change of the indicator. For example, acid-base or proton donation reactions between the indicator and microbe may result in the color change. As an example, highly organized acid moieties on bacteria cell walls may protonate certain indicators, resulting in a loss of color. Patents are difficult to defend in that it has to specifically mention the new idea that you are trying to patent and not just refer to the general idea. However the statement above might be sufficiently close? On the other hand, I just noticed its status as "Abandoned."
- R0b0t1 6y agoCourts are very reticent to overturn a patent even if it is completely bogus. There are many of these bogus patents, the worst has to be a guy who patented "driving LEDs via their I2C interface" which is on par with patenting driving a car.
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- edimaudo 6y agoFound out about this on NPR. I wish her more success.
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