Description

Pseudomonas biofilms pose a major challenge in the agri-food industry because of their resistance toconventional cleaning agents. The use of bacteriophages to treat them is a promising approach, but requires real-time monitoring tools to assess their effectiveness. This thesis aims to develop an innovative method for monitoring Pseudomonas biofilms using ultrasonic coda waves, building on the work of Bowei Chen (IEMN UMR CNRS 8520, 2019) on acoustics applied to fouling and the thesis of Maxime Decodts (Ceramaths, 2024) on bacteriophages. The aim is to characterise the dynamics of biofilms treated by phages, by correlating variations in acoustic signals, in particular coda wave interferometry, with the structure, viability and mechanical response of biofilms. This approach would optimise the effectiveness of bacteriophagic treatments and offer a real-time monitoring solution suited to agro-industrial environments.
This interdisciplinary project, combining acoustic sensors, modelling and processing of ultrasound signals, microbiology and process engineering, is expected to contribute for a new generation of noninvasive methods for monitoring biofilms in the agri-food industry.

Skills required

The candidate should have solid theoretical skills in the physics of acoustic waves (ultrasound) in solid media. Numerical modeling toolsand signal processing skills are also expected. Good experimental skills and a great interest in applications in the fields of biology, healthand life sciences are also essential.

Bibliography

Bowei Chen, Marwan Abdallah, Pierre Campistron, Emmanuel Moulin, Dorothee Debavelaere-Callens, Simon Khelissa, PascalDebreyne, Nour-Eddine Chihib, and Guillaume Delaplace. Detection of biofilm formation by ultrasonic Coda Wave Interferometry.Journal of Food Engineering, 290:110219, February 2021. doi: 10.1016/j.jfoodeng.2020.110219.
Bowei Chen, Dorothee Debavelaere-Callens, Pierre Campistron, Emmanuel Moulin, Guillaume Delaplace,and Pascal Debreyne.Monitoring cleaning cycles of fouled ducts using ultrasonic coda wave interferometry (CWI). Ultrasonics, 96:253-260, 2019. doi:10.1016/j.ultras.2018.12.011.
Maxime Decodts, Christina Cantallos -Vila, Jean-Christophe Hornez, Jean -Marie Lacroix, Franck Bouchart. Phage-Loaded BiomimeticApatite Powder with antibiofilm activity to treat Bone-associated Infections, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, 2024;0:1-16
Guillaume Delaplace, Pierre Campistron, Marwan Abdallah, A. Boutignon, T. Danel, et al.. Ultrasonic coda wave interferometry (CWI) fordetecting a change at interface of a solid surface - Applications for monitoring fouling, biofilm growth, cleaning and corrosion. HeatExchanger Fouling and Cleaning XIV, Jun 2022, Wagrain, Austria. ⟨hal-03866991⟩

Keywords

ultrasounds, biofilm monitoring, coda wave interferometry, acoustic characterization, signal processing, food industry