Get ready for World Sepsis Day - September 13, 2025

The theme for World Sepsis Day 2025: “5 Facts × 5 Actions.” 

This year’s focus highlights five key truths about sepsis and 

five urgent steps we can all take to help save lives. 

Our official Policy and Media Brief is now available to download 

and share.

In preparation for September 13, we’ve also updated our World Sepsis Day Infographics and Sepsis Awareness Posters for 2025 — with refreshed visuals and updated data. Additionally, our World Sepsis Day Toolkit Section features brochures, fact sheets, event guides, photo boards, quizzes, wallpapers, video clips, and more. All materials are free to use and available in multiple languages to support your outreach online and offline.

Finally, we’ve published our updated  

event inspiration guide for 2025 — 

packed with ideas to help you mark 

World Sepsis Day 

in your community. Whether it’s a 

pink picnic, 

a local media campaign, a hospital 

training, 

or a digital awareness post, every action 

counts.

Start planning today — explore the toolkits, 

share the message, and help ensure that 

fewer lives 

are lost to sepsis, a silent killer that too often goes unrecognized.

Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle, Pharmaceutical Microbiology Resources (http://www.pharmamicroresources.com/)

The Impact of Material Selection on Medical Equipment Performance

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Image: Medical equipment. By Frp17580 - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5244864
 

Medical equipment is essential to diagnostics, treatment and chronic disease management. It is also integral to the behind-the-scenes work in laboratories, where scientists study samples under microscopes, and technicians run specific tests to check tissue and bodily fluids for abnormalities. What manufacturers make them out of is critical to their performance.

 

By Ellie Gabel. 

Supporting Automation Investments

Increasing patient demands have made health care executives more interested in automating specific processes to increase maximum output while reducing errors and tackling labor shortages. Strategically chosen materials enable those enhancements. Automated systems vary by type and purpose, but many feature conveyor belts, robotic arms, and other components to move and handle lab samples and similar contents.


Selecting smooth, nonporous and easy-to-clean materials for the associated medical equipment ensures the facilities meet sanitation goals. Additionally, prioritizing durability extends longevity and increases resilience to everyday use.


An automated microbiology lab at the University of Colorado’s health campus features pneumatic tubes and dumbwaiters that carry approximately 650 samples daily through a multistep process. After receiving commands from lab workers’ computer stations, the closed-loop system carries agar plates to the correct destinations. Employees say this improvement gives doctors test results faster, which benefits patient care. Carefully chosen materials make automation-driven workflows more effective, allowing the foundational equipment to withstand ongoing demands.

Minimizing Unwanted Bacterial Growth

Undesired bacterial proliferation in labs or hospital environments increases the risk of deadly infections and associated complications. Materials scientists have explored whether surface treatments could mitigate the issue. In a 2022 example, a UCLA group used zwitterionic material to form a barrier that stops bacteria and other potentially harmful organisms from adhering to medical equipment surfaces.


More recently, University of Nottingham scientists invented a paint to kill bacteria and viruses on surfaces. It includes chlorhexidine — an antiseptic used to disinfect the skin and instruments before surgeries. This highly versatile innovation adds an antimicrobial coating to various plastic and nonporous materials.

Experiments confirmed the paint works immediately after drying, making it a cost-effective, user-friendly way to reduce bacteria levels in high-risk environments. Choosing materials compatible with such coatings when designing medical equipment could elevate safety.

Increasing Effectiveness

Engineers and other specialists who make health care devices assess dozens of material candidates during development stages, prioritizing those that meet the most significant needs and uphold quality goals. Specifics vary depending on the application, but users quickly notice when design teams pick purposeful materials.


For example, durable and comfortable materials could increase patients’ willingness to keep wearable devices attached to their skin for hours or days. Such equipment provides real-time statistics and other valuable information to shape physicians’ care decisions.


The material is one of many aspects that product development teams assess. Sometimes, even tiny changes affect how well devices function. Surgeons use hemostats to grab and stabilize tissue during tasks such as suturing. Designs with curved jaws improve access as users work in hard-to-reach sites. Additionally, serrated tips provide better grasping capabilities than blunt-tipped types designed for delicate areas.


Skilled designers also select biocompatible materials for implantable medical equipment. Products in this category must withstand the often-harsh conditions inside patients’ bodies without triggering the immune systems to treat them as invaders or damaging fragile organs.


In one example, researchers made a wireless monitoring device that rests directly on a transplanted organ to detect potential signs of rejection, such as inflammation-related temperature abnormalities. These complications can occur at any time after apparently successful transplants, and the looming threat causes ongoing anxiety in patients who do not always experience symptoms.


However, this device sends notifications to smartphones, boosting awareness. It detected rejection indicators several weeks earlier than current monitoring methods, which allowed physicians to administer the necessary therapies sooner.

Furthering Equipment Improvements

History books and museums show how much some medical devices have changed over the centuries. Those alterations facilitated meaningful progress, making them easier for doctors, laboratory staff and other professionals to use while enhancing comfort, durability and additional characteristics affecting patient satisfaction.


As design professionals assess the most suitable improvements, they should prioritize material selection alongside aspects like functionality, weight and size. Well-chosen materials impact safety, performance and usability.

Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle, Pharmaceutical Microbiology Resources (http://www.pharmamicroresources.com/)

What Tools are You Likely to See in an Operating Theatre?

 

Image: https://unsplash.com/photos/gray-metal-tool-set-close-up-photography-QQ_Rvwe0u_w

An operating theatre can be filled with specialised tools so that doctors and nurses can do their jobs safely and effectively. Having the right tools available can be imperative to how an operating theatre works and how surgery is conducted safely. Here’s a run down of some of the common tools you’ll find in the operating room.

1)    A Scalpel

Scalpels are small, sharp knives that doctors use to make precise cuts in the skin. There are different shapes and sizes that are numbered so that each part is replaceable depending on what you’re cutting into but ensures that they are always sharp and clean.

2)    Retractors

Retractors are tools used to hold back tissues and organs so that the doctor can see and work on the area being operated on. Some retractors are handheld, but some are a Self-Retaining Retractor which is designed to stay in place to hold an incision open to allow the surgeon to operate efficiently. As technology has advanced, it’s enabled light attachments to be used too for better accuracy.

3)    Forceps

Forceps are used to pick up, hold or to gently handle small pieces of tissue. They can be really helpful for aiding in dressings and stitches but can also be used to clap together blood vessels such as a hemostatic forceps.

4)    Scissors

Surgical scissors are special scissors used to cut tissues, stitches, or other materials. There are different kinds you can see in an operating theatre. General scissors can be used for cutting clothes for example, but there are also more specialised types of scissors such as Metzenbaum scissors which are designed to cut delicate tissues or Mayo scissors which are for more tough tissues.

5)    Clamps

Clamps are used to hold and secure things in the operating room for a multitude of surgical procedures. Surgeons can rely on clamps to help stop the bleeding by clamping blood vessels, but also to work on specific areas of the body and allow for better circulation and effective surgeries.

6)    Suction

Suction devices are used in the operating room to remove any blood or fluids that can interfere with surgery. There are different types of devices depending on the type or operation. There can be general suction tips or one’s that are more delicate to protect tissues.

7)    Stitches and Staplers

So when it comes to an operating theatre, sutures and stitching is usually predominant as a tool to close up cuts and wounds. Staplers can also be used to close up wounds and medical glue can also hold together minor cuts and wounds.

8)    Anaesthetics

Anaesthesia is mostly used in surgeries to help put patients to sleep whilst medical professionals are still able to monitor them. Anaesthesia equipment is used to control this and monitor vital signs such as blood pressure and heart rates to keep patients safe whilst in the operating theatre.

9)    Intelligent Surgery Systems

As technology has developed, medical professionals are now able to rely on robotic surgical equipment to help in an operating theatre. This can be something like the da Vinci surgical system, AR or 3D printing.

Conclusion

An operating room is filled with various tools that help doctors perform surgeries safely and effectively. From scalpels and scissors to advanced robotic systems, each tool has a specific purpose to ensure the best possible care for patients.

Pharmaceutical Microbiology Resources (http://www.pharmamicroresources.com/)