Contamination of the inner surface of indwelling (implanted) medical devices by microbial biofilm is a serious problem. Some microbial bacteria such as Escherichia coli form biofilms that lead to potentially lifethreatening infections. Other types of medical devices such as bronchoscopes and duodenoscopes account for the highest number of reported endoscopic infections where microbial biofilm is one of the major causes for these infections. We applied a hyperspectral imaging method to detect biofilm contamination on the surface of several common materials used for medical devices. Such materials include stainless steel, titanium, and stainless-steeltitanium alloy. Potential uses of hyperspectral imaging technique to monitor biofilm attachment to different material surfaces are discussed.

Date Published: 14 February 2012
PDF: 7 pages
Proc. SPIE 8215, Design and Quality for Biomedical Technologies V, 821507 (14 February 2012); doi: 10.1117/12.909980

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 8215:
Design and Quality for Biomedical Technologies V
Ramesh Raghavachari; Rongguang Liang, Editor(s)