Sensors 2009, 9(4), 2538-2554; doi:10.3390/s90402538
Review

Advances in Microbial Biofilm Prevention on Indwelling Medical Devices with Emphasis on Usage of Acoustic Energy

Naama Dror 1 email, Mathilda Mandel 2 email, Zadik Hazan 3 email and Gad Lavie 1,* email
1 Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel 2 Blood Center, Sheba Medical Center, Tel-Hashomer, Israel 3 Regenera Pharma Ltd., Rehovot, Israel
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 20 January 2009; in revised form: 27 March 2009 / Accepted: 14 April 2009 / Published: 14 April 2009
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pathogen Sensors)
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Abstract: Microbial biofilms are a major impediment to the use of indwelling medical devices, generating device-related infections with high morbidity and mortality. Major efforts directed towards preventing and eradicating the biofilm problem face difficulties because biofilms protect themselves very effectively by producing a polysaccharide coating, reducing biofilm sensitivity to antimicrobial agents. Techniques applied to combating biofilms have been primarily chemical. These have met with partial and limited success rates, leading to current trends of eradicating biofilms through physico-mechanical strategies. Here we review the different approaches that have been developed to control biofilm formation and removal, focusing on the utilization of acoustic energy to achieve these objectives.
Keywords: Anti-microbial agents; Biofilms; Biofilm prevention; Acoustic energy; Ultrasonication

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Dror, N.; Mandel, M.; Hazan, Z.; Lavie, G. Advances in Microbial Biofilm Prevention on Indwelling Medical Devices with Emphasis on Usage of Acoustic Energy. Sensors 2009, 9, 2538-2554.

AMA Style

Dror N, Mandel M, Hazan Z, Lavie G. Advances in Microbial Biofilm Prevention on Indwelling Medical Devices with Emphasis on Usage of Acoustic Energy. Sensors. 2009; 9(4):2538-2554.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Dror, Naama; Mandel, Mathilda; Hazan, Zadik; Lavie, Gad. 2009. "Advances in Microbial Biofilm Prevention on Indwelling Medical Devices with Emphasis on Usage of Acoustic Energy." Sensors 9, no. 4: 2538-2554.

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