Microsystems for sensing and characterization of bacterial biofilms

Abstract

Bacterial biofilms cause severe infections in clinical fields and contamination problems in environmental facilities due to the complex bacterial composition and extracellular matrix of biofilms. To investigate fundamental mechanisms of biofilm formation, non-invasive characterization is desirable. In addition, biofilm sensing at an early stage of growth is critical for managing biofilm associated problems, such as infectious diseases. Microscale devices have significant advantages for the investigation of biofilms, including low volume requirements, high throughput, sensitive detection, and real time monitoring. In this paper, we summarize microfluidic-based biofilm characterization platforms as well as a microscale sensor for early detection of biofilms using a surface acoustic wave.