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Papadopoulos C, Larue AE, Toulouze C, Mokhtari O, Lefort J, Libert E, Assémat P, Swider P, Malaquin L, Davit Y. A versatile micromodel technology to explore biofilm development in porous media flows. LAB ON A CHIP 2024; 24:254-271. [PMID: 38059908 DOI: 10.1039/d3lc00293d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
Bacterial biofilms that grow in porous media are critical to ecosystem processes and applications ranging from soil bioremediation to bioreactors for treating wastewater or producing value-added products. However, understanding and engineering the complex phenomena that drive the development of biofilms in such systems remains a challenge. Here we present a novel micromodel technology to explore bacterial biofilm development in porous media flows. The technology consists of a set of modules that can be combined as required for any given experiment and conveniently tuned for specific requirements. The core module is a 3D-printed micromodel where biofilm is grown into a perfusable porous substrate. High-precision additive manufacturing, in particular stereolithography, is used to fabricate porous scaffolds with precisely controlled architectures integrating flow channels with diameters down to several hundreds of micrometers. The system is instrumented with: ultraviolet-C light-emitting diodes; on-line measurements of oxygen consumption and pressure drop across the porous medium; camera and spectrophotometric cells for the detection of biofilm detachment events at the outlet. We demonstrate how this technology can be used to study the development of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm for several days within a network of flow channels. We find complex dynamics whereby oxygen consumption reaches a steady-state but not the pressure drop, which instead features a permanent regime with large fluctuations. We further use X-ray computed microtomography to image the spatial distribution of biofilms and computational fluid dynamics to link biofilm development with local flow properties. By combining the advantages of additive manufacturing for the creation of reproducible 3D porous microarchitectures with the flow control and instrumentation accuracy of microfluidics, our system provides a platform to study the dynamics of biofilm development in 3D porous media and to rapidly test new concepts in process engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christos Papadopoulos
- Institut de Mécanique des Fluides (IMFT), CNRS & Université de Toulouse, 31400 Toulouse, France.
- LAAS-CNRS, CNRS & Université de Toulouse, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - Anne Edith Larue
- Institut de Mécanique des Fluides (IMFT), CNRS & Université de Toulouse, 31400 Toulouse, France.
- Transverse Lab, 271 rue des Fontaines, 31300 Toulouse, France
| | - Clara Toulouze
- Institut de Mécanique des Fluides (IMFT), CNRS & Université de Toulouse, 31400 Toulouse, France.
| | - Omar Mokhtari
- Physikalisches Institut, Universität Bern, Gesellschaftsstrasse 6, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Julien Lefort
- Institut de Mécanique des Fluides (IMFT), CNRS & Université de Toulouse, 31400 Toulouse, France.
| | - Emmanuel Libert
- Institut de Mécanique des Fluides (IMFT), CNRS & Université de Toulouse, 31400 Toulouse, France.
| | - Pauline Assémat
- Institut de Mécanique des Fluides (IMFT), CNRS & Université de Toulouse, 31400 Toulouse, France.
| | - Pascal Swider
- Institut de Mécanique des Fluides (IMFT), CNRS & Université de Toulouse, 31400 Toulouse, France.
| | - Laurent Malaquin
- LAAS-CNRS, CNRS & Université de Toulouse, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - Yohan Davit
- Institut de Mécanique des Fluides (IMFT), CNRS & Université de Toulouse, 31400 Toulouse, France.
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