# Quantitative mechanical phenotyping of bacterial biofilms on implant surfaces

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY · 2021 · $265,956

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT – PROJECT 2
Bacteria accumulation on medical devices puts a patient at serious risk for infection and could be life threatening.
Eradication of established biofilm-forming infections remains difficult, in part because the accumulated bacteria
are physiologically and metabolically distinct from the planktonic cells (floating single cells) of the same organism.
Despite intense efforts in the field, biofilm level response to treatments and changes in environment has been
hindered by the lack of robust, quantitative, and accurate biofilm characterization techniques that can be directly
correlated to medical device surfaces. Furthermore, antibiotic penetration in implant-associated biofilms, is
typically limited due to the dense and complex matrix of biofilms. The overall goal of this project is to develop
complementary techniques that yield quantitative information on biofilm adhesion and deformability. Our working
hypothesis is that changes in these two mechanical properties, i.e., adhesion and deformability, of biofilms is a
direct marker of disease progression. The development of tools that can quantitatively characterize the
mechanical properties of biofilms and corresponding material surfaces that control bacterial adhesion—possibly
in a species-specific manner—will have a significant impact on medical device compatibility. Aided by access to
the CPRI Translational and Computational Cores, the proposed research will first develop a film adhesion
measurement technique for evaluation of biofilms to determine the association between biofilm antibiotic
resistance and adhesion strength (AIM 1). Parallel to exploration of the role of biofilm adhesion, we will leverage
our unique characterization suite that includes a rare confocal-atomic force microscopy platform to evaluate the
relationship between biofilm deformability and antibiotic resistance (AIM 2). Lastly, we will evaluate nanoparticle
mobility assays as a measure of biofilm confinement and develop computational models regarding drug carrier
diffusion (AIM 3). Our expectation is that the results and tools developed here will guide us and others to logically
design medical devices with a decreased propensity for the genesis of therapeutic-resistant biofilm infections.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10112948
- **Project number:** 5P20GM130456-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY
- **Principal Investigator:** Martha Grady
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $265,956
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-03-01 → 2025-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10112948

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10112948, Quantitative mechanical phenotyping of bacterial biofilms on implant surfaces (5P20GM130456-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10112948. Licensed CC0.

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