Biofilm Adhesion

Sumner, Kylie P.

Student Work

Biofilm Adhesion

Public

One major problem in biomedical sciences is the risk of infection associated with prosthetic implants. A majority of these infections are attributed to the formation and growth of bacterial biofilms on the prosthetics. Infections from medical implants, on average, cost the United States two billion dollars each year. A biofilm is a group of bacteria that are able to adhere tightly to surfaces by the excretion of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). This coating also protects the bacteria and makes them more resistant to antibiotics. The early steps of biofilm formation include adhesion, aggregation and accumulation, and release. The early stages of biofilm formation begin as soon as a population of bacteria meets a surface, and the device that was designed for this work can monitor these steps to give insight into the mechanisms of biofilm adhesion and to research possible preventative measures. The device uses electrochemical impedance spectroscopy along with fluorescence microscopy to monitor the initial steps in biofilm formation. The device was designed and milled in-house and the flow inside the channel was modelled using computational fluid dynamics.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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