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Abstract
The effects of extremely low-frequency (ELF) pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) emitted by the custom-build exposure chamber on the growth and survival of the bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli ATCC 25922) have been studied. The viability of E. coli was measured as colony-forming units (CFUs) before and after the exposures at frequencies, f, 2–500 Hz and magnetic flux densities, B, 2.5–5 mT to quantify the effects of applied ELF PEMF on these bacteria. The maximum reduction in bacterial growth was observed with the exposures at 3 Hz and 0.5 mT. The maximum decrease in CFU was recorded for the exposure at 500 Hz and 2.5 mT, which corresponds to a relative decrease of 77.26% in the bacterial growth. Findings from this study have direct implication for determining the optimal characteristics of the applied ELF PEMF for possible treatment of infected tissue and thus, wound healing promotion.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the Australia Postgraduate Award (APA) in supporting this work. We are also thankful for assistance of the technical officer Mr David Welch, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, RMIT University, and Mr Eltaher Elshagmani at Biotechnology and Environmental Biology, School of Applied Science, RMIT University. We would like to thank Dr Vuk Vojisavljevic from School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, RMIT University, for his contribution in statistical analysis of the data presented in this paper.