| Pacific Rim Symposium on Surfaces, Coatings and Interfaces (PacSurf 2014) | |
| Biomaterial Interfaces | Monday Sessions |
| Session BI-MoE |
| Session: | Biofouling |
| Presenter: | Martina Abrigo, Swinburne University, Australia |
| Authors: | M. Abrigo, Swinburne University, Australia P. Kingshott, Swinburne University, Australia S.L. McArthur, Swinburne University, Australia |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Diabetic, pressure, venous and arterial ulcers are a large social, economic and healthcare burden. These chronic non-healing wounds show delayed and incomplete healing processes exposing patients to high risk of infection. The design of wound dressings that combine the necessary morphological and physical requirements for wound healing with the value-added capability to address optimal cell responses and impair bacterial proliferation represents a major challenge in chronic wound care. Polymeric nanofibrous meshes fabricated through the electrospinning process are promising candidates as wound dressings due to their high surface area, micro-porosity and non-woven structure. In this study, the parameters of the electrospinning process (such as spinning rate and electric field intensity) were optimized to fabricate nanofibrous membrane in Polystyrene (M.W. 250.000). Electrospun materials have been used as scaffolds for tissue engineering for a number of years, but there is surprisingly little literature on the interactions of fibers with bacteria. In order to understand microbial infiltration and control in wound dressings, a number of microbiological assays (MTT, MTS and live/dead) were completed using E. Coli, P. Aeruginosa, S. Aureus in an effort to understand how the morphological and structural properties of the electrospun meshes influence bacterial attachment, proliferation and growth. Fiber diameter was found to affect the capacity of wound bacteria to adhere onto the fibers and spread within the fibrous network. Bacterial size and shape also resulted to play a key role in regulating the interaction of bacteria with the fibers.