Background and ObjectivesHospital‐acquired infections (HAIs) and multidrug resistant bacteria pose a significant threat to the U.S. healthcare system. With a dearth of new antibiotic approvals, novel antimicrobial strategies are required to help solve this problem. Violet‐blue visible light (400–470 nm) has been shown to elicit strong antimicrobial effects toward many pathogens, including representatives of the ESKAPE bacterial pathogens, which have a high propensity to cause HAIs. However, phototherapeutic solutions to prevention or treating infections are currently limited by efficient and nonobtrusive light‐delivery mechanisms.Study Design/Materials and MethodsHere, we investigate the in vitro antimicrobial properties of flexible Corning® light‐diffusing fiber (LDF) toward members of the ESKAPE pathogens in a variety of growth states and in the context of biological materials. Bacteria were grown on agar surfaces, in liquid culture and on abiotic surfaces. We also explored the effects of 405 nm light within the presence of lung surfactant, human serum, and on eukaryotic cells. Pathogens tested include Enterococcus spp, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterobacter spp., Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus pyogenes, Candida albicans, and Escherichia coli.ResultsOverall, the LDF delivery of 405 nm violet‐blue light exerted a significant degree of microbicidal activity against a wide range of pathogens under diverse experimental conditions.ConclusionsThe results exemplify the fiber's promise as a non‐traditional approach for the prevention and/or therapeutic intervention of HAIs. Lasers Surg. Med. © 2019 The Authors. Lasers in Surgery and Medicine Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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This paper describes a novel fiber designed to produce uniform illumination in angular space along its length. The mechanism of light extraction from the silica glass guiding region is due to nano-sized gas filled voids formed during fiber preform consolidation and fiber draw process. The resulting effect creates an aesthetically pleasing line or string of light which provides a long, thin, and flexible illumination tool for a variety of designs or functional applications. The rate of light extraction is determined by size and number of the formed these elongated voids features. The scattering material in the secondary coating modifies the scattering distribution function to make it uniform in angular space. The rate of the scattering efficiency can be controlled by drawing conditions and light launch conditions from the light source. The spectral efficiency of scattering is very high due to use of pure silica and low-absorbance coating materials from UV through IR. The use of color conversion materials placed outside the secondary coating can be used to generate a wide range of colors using a blue wavelength light pump, including pure white colors with a color temperature ranging from 3000 to 10000 K. Finally, a range of aesthetic and functional illumination applications for this fiber are also discussed.