Moderate intensity static magnetic field has bactericidal effect on E. coli and S. epidermidis on sintered hydroxyapatite

Abstract The application of electromagnetic field in the context of bacteria associated infections on biomaterial surfaces has not been extensively explored. In this work, we applied a moderate intensity static magnetic field (100 mT) to understand the adhesion and growth behavior of both gram positive ( S. epidermidis ) and gram negative bacteria ( E. coli ) and also to investigate bactericidal/bacteriostatic property of the applied electromagnetic field. An in‐house built magnetometer was used to apply static homogeneous magnetic field during a planned set of in vitro experiments. Both the sintered hydroxyapatite (HA) and the control samples seeded with bacteria were exposed to the magnetic field (100 mT) for different timescale during their log phase growth. Quantitative analysis of the SEM images confirms the effect of electromagnetic field on suppressing bacterial growth. Furthermore, cell integrity and inner membrane permeabilization assays were performed to understand the origin of such effect. The results of these assays were statistically analyzed to reveal the bactericidal effect of magnetic field, indicating cell membrane damage. Under the investigated culture conditions, the bactericidal effect was found to be less effective for S. Epidermidis than E. coli. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater 2012:100B:1206–1217, 2012.