Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39815154›Full record

ArticleAdvanced healthcare materials2025

Quantitative Assessment of Microbial Transmission onto Environmental Surfaces Using Thermoresponsive Gelatin Hydrogels as a Finger Mimetic under In Situ-Mimicking Conditions.

Mihyun Lee, Luzia Wiesli, Frank Schreiber, Angela Ivask, Qun Ren

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Advanced healthcare materials, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Mihyun LeeLaboratory for Biointerfaces, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, St. Gallen, 9014, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-2647-8729
Luzia WiesliLaboratory for Biointerfaces, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, St. Gallen, 9014, Switzerland.
Frank SchreiberDivision of Biodeterioration and Reference Organisms (4.1), Department of Materials and the Environment, Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM), Unter den Eichen 87, 12205, Berlin, Germany.
Angela IvaskInstitute of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Tartu, Riia 23, Tartu, 51010, Estonia.
Qun RenLaboratory for Biointerfaces, Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials and Technology, Lerchenfeldstrasse 5, St. Gallen, 9014, Switzerland.

Funding

European UnionSwiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Surface-mediated transmission of pathogens plays a key role in healthcare-associated infections. However, proper techniques for its quantitative analysis are lacking, making it challenging to develop novel antimicrobial and anti-fouling surfaces to reduce pathogen spread via environmental surfaces. This study demonstrates a gelatin hydrogel-based touch transfer test, the HydroTouch test, to evaluate pathogen transmission on high-touch surfaces under semi-dry conditions. The HydroTouch test employs gelatin as a finger mimetic, facilitating testing with pathogenic bacteria under controlled conditions. The thermoresponsive sol-gel transition of gelatin allows easy recovery and quantification of bacteria before and after testing. The HydroTouch test demonstrates that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has a high transmission efficiency of ≈16% onto stainless steel, compared to <3% for Escherichia coli or Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Polyurethane surfaces exhibit strong resistance to bacterial contamination with a transmission efficiency of ≈0.6%, while polytetrafluoroethylene shows a transmission efficiency approximately four times higher than polyurethane. Additionally, quaternary ammonium-based antimicrobial coatings reduce the transmission efficiency of live bacteria on stainless steel to ≈4% of the original level. The HydroTouch test provides a reliable method for assessing pathogen transmission on various surfaces under semi-dry settings, supporting the development of effective antimicrobial, anti-transmission coatings to reduce healthcare-associated infections.

Indexed as

GelatinHydrogelsEscherichia coliMethicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureusPolyurethanesPseudomonas aeruginosaStainless SteelSurface PropertiesTemperatureGelatinHydrogelsPolyurethanesStainless Steelantimicrobial testinghigh‐touch surfacesreal‐life conditionsthermoresponsive hydrogelstouch transfer assay

Identifiers

PMID39815154
PMCPMC11874667

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.