Common themes: Detection, Quantification, Identification, Control

The foregoing examples illustrate that practitioners in diverse industrial sectors have some very similar concerns about biofilm accumulation and activity in their respective systems including how to:

• detect and quantify biofilm accumulation,
• identify the presence of key bacterial strains, and most importantly,
• control biofilm accumulation.

It should be noted that the existing and evolving methods for biofilm detection, quantification and identification usually (with some exceptions) require some form of laboratory analysis to complete. These methods are covered in detail in Chapter 8 "Methods for Studying Biofilms".

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P. Dirckx, Center for Biofilm Engineering, Montana State University, Bozeman

Figure 1. Options for controlling biofilm accumulation

A summary of basic approaches for biofilm control is given in Figure 1. Detailed coverage of the topic of biofilm control is found in Chapter 7 "Controlling Biofilms".