PMC

SEM of bacterial biofilms grown on coated and uncoated urinary catheters. (A) VRE on an uncoated catheter. VRE cells are present on the surface, with a biofilm matrix (arrows) seen at some spots covering the cells. (B) VRE on a silver hydrogel-coated catheter. Organisms are covered with an extensive biofilm, where the biofilm matrix looks like a granular structure with bacterial cells totally embedded within it. (C) VRE on a GND-UC. The GND-UC resulted in a reduction in biofilm, and no organisms as seen in panels A and B are visible in panel C. Magnification, ×5,000.