(193b) Thermally Triggered Biofilm Dispersion
AIChE Annual Meeting
2020
2020 Virtual AIChE Annual Meeting
Topical Conference: Microbes at Biomedical Interfaces
Graduate Student Competition in Microbiointerface Research
Tuesday, November 17, 2020 - 8:15am to 8:30am
Flow cell (1 x 1 x 6 inches) with mature Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms placed at the bottom and a constant flow of diluted TSB at room temperature was used to determine the bacterial dispersion rate from the biofilms. We did high flow rate trials at 800 ml min-1, and we learned that bacterial dispersion is so high that despite the large volume of effluent, dispersed bacteria concentrations are still large enough for quantification, but thereâs also concern about debridement even without elevated temperature. Further trials at a lower flow rate 80 ml min-1 established a baseline dispersion event with little observed debridement, and subsequent in situ thermal shock at 70°C for 5 min triggered a spike in effluent bacteria. This supports our hypothesis thermal shock promote biofilm bacterial dispersion to planktonic state which is more susceptible to antibiotics and suggests that biofilms on medical implant devices can be mitigated by combining localized thermal shock with antibiotics.