Hydrogen-peroxide generating electrochemical bandage is active against mono- and dual-species biofilms.

Biofilms formed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria in wound beds present unique challenges in terms of treating chronic wound infections; biofilms formed by one or more than one bacterial species are often involved. In this work, the anti-biofilm activity of a novel electrochemical bandage (e-bandage) composed of carbon fabric and controlled by a wearable potentiostat, designed to continuously deliver low amounts of hydrogen peroxide (HO) was evaluated against 34 mono-species and 12 dual-species membrane bacterial biofilms formed by , , , , , , , , , , and . Biofilms were grown on polycarbonate membranes placed atop agar plates. An e-bandage, which electrochemically reduces dissolved oxygen to HO when polarized at -0.6 V, was then placed atop each membrane biofilm and polarized continuously for 12, 24, and 48 h using a wearable potentiostat. Time-dependent decreases in viable CFU counts of all mono- and dual-species biofilms were observed after e-bandage treatment. 48 h of e-bandage treatment resulted in an average reduction of 8.17 ± 0.40 and 7.99 ± 0.32 log CFU/cm for mono- and dual-species biofilms, respectively. Results suggest that the described HO producing e-bandage can reduce viable cell counts of biofilms grown either in mono- or dual-species forms, and should be further developed as a potential antibiotic-free treatment strategy for treating chronic wound infections.