device that simplifies the cultivation and analysis of these bacterial communities and enables researchers to assess their response to antibiotics<\/a>, potentially helping clinicians make more precise, personalised treatment decisions.<\/p>\n\u201cXpertBiofilm makes it possible to grow and analyse biofilms directly from patient samples and assess their response to antibiotics in a straightforward way. This could enable better characterisation of biofilm-associated infections and help select more appropriate treatments for each patient,\u201d explains Eduard Torrents, Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona and Group Leader at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), who is leading the development of this technology alongside N\u00faria Blanco-Cabra, Assistant Professor at the UB and researcher at IBEC.<\/p>\n
The possibility of personalising treatment could also help address one of today’s major healthcare challenges: antibiotic resistance. \u201cUnderstanding how each biofilm responds could reduce the use of ineffective drugs and encourage more rational antibiotic use, which is particularly important in the context of the global rise in antimicrobial resistance,\u201d the researchers emphasise.<\/p>\n
A simpler, more cost-effective method for hospital laboratories<\/h3>\n
Despite the high prevalence of biofilm-associated infections, the antibiotic susceptibility testing methods commonly used in hospitals focus on bacteria growing freely. Existing devices for studying biofilms tend to be complex, require specialised personnel and involve lengthy procedures, making them difficult to incorporate into routine clinical practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis limitation can lead to the selection of ineffective treatments, as bacteria within a biofilm may exhibit different antibiotic susceptibility profiles from those growing in a planktonic state. This can contribute to prolonged infections, increased healthcare costs and poorer clinical outcomes for patients,\u201d the researchers point out.<\/p>\n
To address this challenge, the new device simplifies biofilm cultivation and analysis, eliminating the need for complex imaging systems and highly specialised technical staff. \u201cThese features could facilitate its adoption in hospital laboratories to assess the antimicrobial susceptibility of biofilms,\u201d they add.<\/p>\n
The device consists of a sealed chamber containing a circular disc on which the biofilm grows, together with an inlet port through which the antibiotic is administered. The system reproduces conditions that favour the formation of these bacterial communities. The disc can then be removed to analyse the biofilm and assess its susceptibility to antibiotics without the need for specialised equipment.<\/p>\n
From cystic fibrosis to other chronic infections<\/h3>\n
The device has already been validated using sputum samples from people with cystic fibrosis, a chronic, hereditary and degenerative disease that primarily affects the lungs and digestive system. Among its most serious complications are persistent respiratory infections associated with biofilm formation.<\/p>\n
In the proof-of-concept study, bacterial communities grown from these samples responded to antibiotics to which they were clinically susceptible. Conversely, no significant effect was observed with drugs to which they were resistant, in accordance with the susceptibility profile of each sample.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese results demonstrate the device’s ability to reproduce the patient-specific antibiotic response of biofilms in a clinically relevant context,\u201d the researchers explain.<\/p>\n
XpertBiofilm is designed to analyse biofilms from clinical samples obtained directly from patients with different types of infections. \u201cIt could therefore have applications in other chronic conditions associated with these bacterial communities, such as medical device-associated infections (for example, those involving prostheses), chronic wounds or persistent lung infections,\u201d they note.<\/p>\n
The team’s aim is to expand clinical validation to include more samples and other types of biofilm-associated infections. At the same time, the researchers are working to optimise the technology and develop a scalable version that can be easily integrated into clinical laboratory workflows.<\/p>\n
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