BST and Symcel Joint Webinar
On April 21, 2026, BioSurface Technologies Corporation (BST) and Symcel co-hosted a joint webinar titled Analysis of Surface-Attached Biofilm. Part 1 was presented by Stephen Pedersen from BST, covering the MicroWell™ Biofilm Plate Assay (MBPA) and its development from the Calgary Biofilm Device. Part 2 was presented by Dr. Fauve Vergauwe, Field Application Scientist at Symcel, covering calScreener data from MBPA trial runs.
Watch the full recording here: youtube.com/watch?v=NWLQ1jitPyQ
The Problem With Existing High-Throughput Biofilm Testing
Surface-attached biofilms contribute to an estimated 1.7 million hospital-acquired infections annually in the USA and cost the global economy roughly $500 billion per year in microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC) alone. As Costerton, Stewart, and Greenberg wrote in Science in 1999 (the most-cited biofilm paper in history with over 17,000 citations) “formation of these sessile communities and their inherent resistance to antimicrobial agents are at the root of many persistent and chronic bacterial infections.”
The Calgary Biofilm Device (MBEC assay, ASTM E2799) has been the standard for high-throughput biofilm susceptibility testing since 1999. It grows biofilm on 96 polystyrene pegs and samples via sonication, serial dilution, and CFU plating, a process requiring up to 768 dilution wells, 32 agar plates, 8 boxes of pipette tips, and 48 to 72 hours of incubation time. The biofilm is destroyed in the process, and material options are limited almost entirely to polystyrene.
Introducing the MicroWell™ Biofilm Plate Assay (MBPA)
BST’s MBPA was designed to address these limitations. Instead of fixed polystyrene pegs, the MBPA uses 48 removable rectangular coupons available in many materials (stainless steel, carbon steel, titanium, silicone, polycarbonate, glass, wood, and more). Coupons sit in a standard 48-well plate, present a flat surface suitable for direct microscopy, and are autoclavable and reusable.
Material selection matters more than it might seem. Porous materials can harbor cells protected from killing agents. Corroded surfaces develop pits that shield bacteria from treatment. Some materials leach compounds that interact with the biofilm or the biocide itself. Testing on the actual material of interest, rather than polystyrene as a proxy, produces more realistic, real-world data.
The MBPA + calScreener Workflow
The MBPA’s removable coupon format makes direct integration with Symcel’s calScreener™ instrument possible. After biofilm growth, coupons transfer directly into titanium calVials™ and load into the calScreener™ sample tray. The instrument measures the metabolic heat output of the intact biofilm. No scraping, sonicating, diluting, or plating required. Results are available in approximately 1 to 2 hours.
MBEC CFU Enumeration vs. MBPA + calScreener
| MBEC (CFU Enumeration) | MBPA + calScreener | |
|---|---|---|
| Dilution wells | 768 | 0 |
| Agar plates | 32 | 0 |
| Pipette tips | 768 (8 boxes) | 0 |
| Time to result | 48 to 72 hours | ~1 to 2 hours |
| Biofilm intact during measurement? | No | Yes |
| Coupon material options | Polystyrene only | Almost Any |
| Measures metabolic activity directly? | No | Yes |
The 48-coupon capacity of the MBPA fills all 32 calScreener™ tray spots with samples to spare for backup replacement and paired microscopy. For Part 2 of the webinar, including calScreener data from MBPA trial runs, watch the full recording below.