Issue 24, 2022

Non-invasive biomedical sensors for early detection and monitoring of bacterial biofilm growth at the point of care

Abstract

Bacterial infections have long been a serious global health issue. Biofilm formation complicates matters even more. The biofilm's extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) matrix protects bacteria from the host's immune responses, yielding strong adhesion and drug resistance as the biofilm matures. Early bacterial biofilm detection and bacterial biofilm growth monitoring are crucial to treating biofilm-associated infections. Current detection methods are highly sensitive but not portable, are time-consuming, and require expensive equipment and complex operating procedures, limiting their use at the point of care. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop affordable, on-body, and non-invasive biomedical sensors to continuously monitor and detect early biofilm growth at the point of care through personalized telemedicine. Herein, recent advances in developing non-invasive biomedical sensors for early detection and monitoring bacterial biofilm growth are comprehensively reviewed. First, biofilm's life cycle and its impact on the human body, such as biofilm-associated disease and infected medical devices, are introduced together with the challenges of biofilm treatment. Then, the current methods used in clinical and laboratory settings for biofilm detection and their challenges are discussed. Next, the current state of non-invasive sensors for direct and indirect detection of bacterial biofilms are summarized and highlighted with the detection parameters and their design details. Finally, commercially available products, challenges of current devices, and the further trend in biofilm detection sensors are discussed.

Graphical abstract: Non-invasive biomedical sensors for early detection and monitoring of bacterial biofilm growth at the point of care

Article information

Article type
Critical Review
Submitted
20 Aug. 2022
Accepted
11 Nov. 2022
First published
18 Nov. 2022

Lab Chip, 2022,22, 4758-4773

Non-invasive biomedical sensors for early detection and monitoring of bacterial biofilm growth at the point of care

W. Xu and H. Ceylan Koydemir, Lab Chip, 2022, 22, 4758 DOI: 10.1039/D2LC00776B

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