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Wireless Electrostimulation To Eradicate Bacterial Biofilms, Hao Wang May 2019

Wireless Electrostimulation To Eradicate Bacterial Biofilms, Hao Wang

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Bacterial biofilms can form on medical implants and cause serious device-associated infections that are incurable by conventional antibiotics because of high-level tolerance to antimicrobials. Common strategies for controlling device-associated infections, such as coating with antimicrobials and modification of surface properties, can reduce or delay biofilm formation, but the inhibitory effect can be overcome by bacteria over time, and eradicating mature biofilms remains challenging. Direct currents (DCs) have been shown to have bactericidal effects and synergy with conventional antibiotics in concurrent treatment has been demonstrated for killing biofilm cells. However, these systems require a direct connection between electrodes and a power …