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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biosensors and Biomolecular Electronics
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2024.1483200
This article is part of the Research Topic Development of point-of-care sensors for diagnosis of bacterial-associated infections View all articles

Optically accessible, 3D-printed flow chamber with integrated sensors for the monitoring of oral multispecies biofilm growth in vitro

Provisionally accepted
Nicolas Debener Nicolas Debener 1Nils Heine Nils Heine 2,3Beate Legutko Beate Legutko 4Berend Denkena Berend Denkena 4Vannila Prasanthan Vannila Prasanthan 4Katharina Frings Katharina Frings 3,5Maria Leilani Torres-Mapa Maria Leilani Torres-Mapa 3,5Alexander Heisterkamp Alexander Heisterkamp 3,5Meike Stiesch Meike Stiesch 2,3Katharina Nikutta Katharina Nikutta 2,3*Janina Bahnemann Janina Bahnemann 6,7*
  • 1 Institute of Technical Chemistry, Leibniz University Hannover, Hanover, Germany
  • 2 Department of Prosthetic Dentistry and Biomedical Materials Science, Hannover Medical School, Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany
  • 3 Lower Saxony Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Implant Research and Development (NIFE), Hannover, Germany
  • 4 Institute of Production Engineering and Machine Tools, Leibniz University Hannover, Hanover, Germany
  • 5 Institute of Quantum Optics, Leibniz University Hannover, Hanover, Germany
  • 6 Institute of Physics, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany
  • 7 Centre for Advanced Analytics and Predictive Sciences (CAAPS), University of Augsburg, Augsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    The formation of pathogenic multispecies biofilms in the human oral cavity can lead to implantassociated infections, which may ultimately result in implant failure. These infections are neither easily detected nor readily treated. Due to high complexity of oral biofilms, detailed mechanisms of the bacterial dysbiotic shift are not yet even fully understood. In order to study oral biofilms in more detail and develop prevention strategies to fight implant-associated infections, in vitro biofilm models are sorely needed. In this study, we adapted an in vitro biofilm flow chamber model to include miniaturized transparent 3D-printed flow chambers with integrated optical pH sensorsthereby enabling the microscopic evaluation of biofilm growth as well as the monitoring the acidification in close proximity. Two different 3D printing materials were initially characterized with respect to their biocompatibility and surface topography. The functionality of the optically accessible miniaturized flow chambers was then tested using five-species biofilms (featuring the species Streptococcus oralis, Veillonella dispar, Actinomyces naeslundii, Fusobacterium nucleatum, and Porphyromonas gingivalis) and compared to biofilm growth on titanium specimens in the established flow chamber model. As confirmed by live/dead staining and fluorescence in situ hybridization via confocal laser scanning microscopy, the flow chamber setup proved to be suitable for growing reproducible oral biofilms under flow conditions while continuously monitoring biofilm pH. Therefore, the system is suitable for future research use with respect to biofilm dysbiosis and also has great potential for further parallelization and adaptation to achieve higher throughput as well as include additional optical sensors or sample materials.

    Keywords: 3D printing, Oral biofilm, in vitro model, Flow chamber, Infection, Dysbiosis

    Received: 19 Aug 2024; Accepted: 25 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Debener, Heine, Legutko, Denkena, Prasanthan, Frings, Torres-Mapa, Heisterkamp, Stiesch, Nikutta and Bahnemann. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Katharina Nikutta, Department of Prosthetic Dentistry and Biomedical Materials Science, Hannover Medical School, Hanover, 30625, Lower Saxony, Germany
    Janina Bahnemann, Institute of Physics, University of Augsburg, Augsburg, 86159, Bavaria, Germany

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.