Ventilation tube for ear infection

Abstract

Otitis media is the inflammation of the middle ear. Fluid may be clogged behind the eardrum causing infection. In chronic cases, eardrums may even get perforated. Surgery is done with the insertion of a tube in the eardrum to drain the recurring fluid accumulation. However, these widely-used tubes have indefinite retention and cause bacteria proliferation. Biodegradable tubes which can elute drugs draw research attention. This degradation and drug-release study which involved two biodegradable polymers, poly-l-lactide-co-ε-caprolactone (PLC) and poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL), spanned over 12 weeks. Through dip coating, tubes were fabricated from the polymers with intended dimensions. The tubes were divided into three groups, without ofloxacin (OFX) loaded, 1wt% and 2wt% of OFX loaded. The immersion of the tubes into water at a temperature of 37°C, mimicked the physiological conditions. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) was used to detect changes in the molecular weight of the polymers to determine degradation over time. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to obtain the concentration of OFX released from the OFX-loaded tubes at each time-point.