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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2007, p. 7023-7028, Vol. 73, No. 21
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00935-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Low-Load Compression Testing: a Novel Way of Measuring Biofilm Thickness

Ekaterina Paramonova, Ed D. de Jong, Bastiaan P. Krom, Henny C. van der Mei, Henk J. Busscher, and Prashant K. Sharma^*

Department of Biomedical Engineering (Sector F), University Medical Center Groningen and University of Groningen, P.O. Box 196, 9700 AD Groningen, The Netherlands

Received 26 April 2007/ Accepted 23 August 2007

Biofilms are complex and dynamic communities of microorganisms that are studied in many fields due to their abundance and economic impact. Biofilm thickness is an important parameter in biofilm characterization. Current methods of measuring biofilm thicknesses have several limitations, including application, availability, and costs. Here, we present low-load compression testing (LLCT) as a new method for measuring biofilm thickness. With LLCT, biofilm thicknesses are measured during compression by inducing small loads, up to 5 Pa, corresponding to 0.1% deformation, making LLCT essentially a nondestructive technique. Comparison of the thicknesses of various bacterial and yeasts biofilms obtained by LLCT and by using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) resulted in the conclusion that CLSM underestimates the biofilm thickness due to poor penetration of different fluorescent dyes, especially through the thicker biofilms, whereas LLCT does not suffer from this thickness limitation.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biomedical Engineering (Sector F), University Medical Center Groningen and University of Groningen, P.O. Box 196, 9700 AD Groningen, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-50-363-3140. Fax: 31-50-363-3159. E-mail: p.k.sharma{at}med.umcg.nl

Published ahead of print on 31 August 2007.

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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, November 2007, p. 7023-7028, Vol. 73, No. 21
0099-2240/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/AEM.00935-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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