Abstract

Bacterial biofilms pose a significant health risk when they grow on devices placed or implanted in the human body. There is a need to develop new materials that can be used as surface coatings on such devices to inhibit biofilm growth. We report on measurements of the biofilm growth rate on a new polymeric material, slippery BMAEDMA, which can be used as a surface coating for medical devices. Growth rate measurements are also reported for polycarbonate and glass surfaces, for comparison. Measurements are made in a medium shear stress fluid environment. The physical properties of the surfaces are characterized using contact angle, surface roughness, surface skewness and surface kurtosis. Growth rate on the slippery BMA-EDMA is found to be the smallest of the three surfaces. Growth rate is weakly correlated with surface hydrophobicity and surface roughness, while it is strongly correlated with surface skewness and kurtosis.

Keywords: Biofilm growth rate; Antimicrobial resistance; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Porous polymer surface