Cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) as a promising biomaterial for affecting bacterial colonization: investigation on Vibrio campbellii

: Cyclic olefin copolymer (COC) has emerged as an interesting biocompatible material for Organ-on-a-Chip (OoC) devices monitoring growth, viability, and metabolism of cells. Despite ISO 10993 approval, systematic investigation of bacteria grown onto COC is a still not documented issue. This study discusses biofilm formations of the canonical wild type BB120 Vibrio campbellii strain on a native COC substrate and addresses the impact of the physico-chemical properties of COC compared to conventional hydroxyapatite (HA) and poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) surfaces. An interdisciplinary approach combining bacterial colony counting, light microscopy imaging and advanced digital image processing remarks interesting results. First, COC can reduce biomass adhesion with respect to common biopolymers, that is suitable for tuning biofilm formations in the biological and medical areas. Second, remarkably different biofilm morphology (dendritic complex patterns only in the case of COC) was observed among the examined substrates. Third, the observed biofilm morphogenesis was related to the interaction of COC with the conditioning layer of the planktonic biological medium. Fourth, Level Co-occurrence Matrix (CGLM)-based analysis enabled quantitative assessment of the biomass textural fractal development under different coverage conditions. All of this is of key practical relevance in searching innovative biocompatible materials for pharmaceutical, implantable and medical products.