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How Easily Bacteria Clog
the Medical Devices…!!
As a result of the study How
Bacteria Clog Medical Devices, it is found that the microbes join
to create slimy ribbons that tangle and trap other passing
bacteria, creating a full block-age in a startlingly short period
of time.
Using time-lapse imaging,
researchers at Princeton University monitored fluid flow in narrow
tubes or pores. Over a period of about 40 hours, researchers
observed that some of the microbes - dyed green for visibility -
attached to the inner wall of the tube and began to multiply,
eventually forming a slimy coating called a Biofilm. These films
consist of thousands of individual cells held together by a sort
of biological glue. Over next several hours, the researchers sent
additional microbes, dyed red, into the tube. These red cells
became stuck to the biofilm-coated walls, where the force of the
flowing liquid shaped the trapped cells into streamers that
rippled in the liquid like flags rippling in a breeze. During this
time, the fluid flow slowed only slightly.
At about 55 hours into the
experiment, the biofilm streamers tangled with each other, forming
a net-like barrier that trapped additional bacterial cells,
creating a larger barrier which in turn ensnared more cells.
Within an hour, the entire tube became blocked and the fluid flow
stopped.
http://www.princeton.edu
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