1. High-Speed Imaging of Ultrasound-Mediated Bacterial Biofilm Disruption
- Author
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Holger Kneuper, Evert Klaseboer, Bing Hui Terence Goh, Michael Conneely, Paul Campbell, Tracy Palmer, and Boo Cheong Khoo
- Subjects
business.industry ,Chemistry ,Ultrasound ,Biophysics ,Biofilm ,biochemical phenomena, metabolism, and nutrition ,business - Abstract
Bacterial biofilms are common roots of persistent infections. Their structure provides for increased resistance against anti-microbial agents, making them difficult to treat and eradicate. The introduction of ultrasound and microbubble provides the prospect of non-invasive treatment of bacterial biofilms. We adopt the use of a high-speed imaging and optical trapping setup to study the physical mechanisms of ultrasound-mediated microbubble disruption of bacterial biofilms. It was found that the bacterial biofilms could be effectively disrupted due to cavitation collapse of a neighbouring microbubble. However, the efficacy of biofilm disruption depends on several parameters such as stand-off distance and ultrasound parameters.
- Published
- 2015
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