The Effect of Ultrasonication on the Detection of Bacteria in a Biofilm -quantitative Real-time Pcr and Culture Results Using an in Vitro Implant Infection Model-

Kobayashi, N; Procop, GW; Fujishiro, T; Tuohy, MJ; +Bauer, TW +The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland OH [email protected] Introduction The importance of bacterial biofilm associated with joint implants has been recognized widely and investigated. These bacteria are best detected after the biofilm has been disrupted by, for example, ultrasonication. Although ultrasonication enhances detection of adherent bacteria, it may kill the organisms, decreasing the sensitivity of conventional culture results. In addition, the optimum duration of ultrasonication to detect biofilm formative bacteria has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of ultrasonication on the viability of adherent bacteria, to compare the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and culture to detect organisms after ultrasonication, and to determine the optimum duration of ultrasonication to maximize detection of bacteria adherent to a metal substrate.