Standardized reactors for the study of medical biofilms: a review of the principles and latest modifications

Abstract

Biofilms can cause severe problems to human health due to the high tolerance to antimicrobials; consequently, biofilm science and technology constitutes an important research field. Growing a relevant biofilm in the laboratory provides insights into the basic understanding of the biofilm life cycle including responses to antibiotic therapies. Therefore, the selection of an appropriate biofilm reactor is a critical decision, necessary to obtain reproducible and reliable in vitro results. A reactor should be chosen based upon the study goals and a balance between the pros and cons associated with its use and operational conditions that are as similar as possible to the clinical setting. However, standardization in biofilm studies is rare. This review will focus on the four reactors (Calgary biofilm device, Center for Disease Control biofilm reactor, drip flow biofilm reactor, and rotating disk reactor) approved by a standard setting organization (ASTM International) for biofilm experiments and how researchers have modified these standardized reactors and associated protocols to improve the study and understanding of medical biofilms.

Keywords:

• Biofilm devices
• Calgary biofilm device
• CDC biofilm reactor
• drip flow biofilm reactor
• medical applications
• reproducibility
• rotating disk reactor
• standardization

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by:POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006939 (Laboratory for Process Engineering, Environment, Biotechnology and Energy – UID/EQU/00511/2013) funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through COMPETE2020 – Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) and by national funds, through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.NORTE‐01‐0145‐FEDER‐000005 – LEPABE-2-ECO-INNOVATION, supported by North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).SFRH/BD/103810/2014, SFRH/BD/52624/2014, SFRH/BD/88799/2012 and SFRH/BPD/81982/2011, doctoral and post-doctoral grants attributed by FCT. The work was undertaken as part of the COST Action TD1305.