Comparative study of antibiofilm activity and physicochemical properties of microelectrode arrays

In this paper, the antibiofilm activity of microelectrode arrays (MEAs) related to their physicochemical properties was studied. Our objective was to determine whether any of the MEAs in contact with the biofilms elicit a considerable antibiofilm activity. Our hypothesis was that the antibiofilm activity of the MEAs depended on the materials used for the preparation of their tips. The antibiofilm activity of the samples was determined by measuring the ratio of the killed to alive bacteria incubated with microelectrodes. To our knowledge, the antibiofilm activity of MEAs related to their physicochemical properties has not been reported, yet. The use of different tips made of carbon nanotube (CNT) or platinum (Pt) for the samples allowed in situ monitoring of their antibiofilm activity. The complementary data of FTIR and SEM analysis of the samples before and after incubation with the biofilm revealed the attachment of proteins from biofilm on the sample tips. The confocal microscopy showed that the ratio of dead to alive cells incubated with the MEAs coated with parylene-C, the samples with Pt tips and the ones with CNT tips was 15.2% +/- 9.8%, 40.4% +/- 12.3% and 25.8% +/- 8.2%, respectively. This study presented the evidence of the effect of type of sample tips on the anti-biofilm effect of MEAs. These results suggest that MEAs with Pt tips, killing more bacteria than the ones with CNT tips or without coated tips, could be used for the preparation of sterile surfaces of these implants.