Consultancy | Environmental Healthcare Unit

The Environmental Healthcare Unit provides a Consultancy Service for companies who wish to undertake research involving new antimicrobial products, novel antimicrobial therapies and new hospital cleaning chemistries.

Proteus Mirabilis biofilm detected using EDIC Brightfield — Proteus Mirabilis biofilm

Our Consultancy Service has dealt with a wide range of projects in collaboration with both small and large multinational companies.

We offer a range of testing services using up-to-date microbiological methods and the latest techniques in specialised microscopy.

Bacterial culture of a wide range of hazard group 2 organisms to suit our clients’ needs
Expertise with Epi-fluorescence and Episcopic Differential Interference Contrast (EDIC) Microscopy allows us to image bacteria using DNA stains, and also to image bacteria in-situ on non-transparent surfaces such as metal and plastic
We can carry out disinfection assays to assess the antimicrobial capabilities of our clients disinfectant / antimicrobial surfaces with a wide range of HG2 organisms
Many people are creating antimicrobial products containing copper , and we can assess the effectiveness of these in our labs
Biofilm assays allow us to determine the growth of bacteria on your surface or product over time
Tests for viable but non-culturable (VBNC) bacteria that will not grow in culture:
- Cell elongation (by creating an environment with low levels of stress, live cells replicate but do not separate, allowing them to be quantified
- Live/dead staining (determining the viability of bacteria by means of membrane permeable and non-permeable DNA stains)
- Respiration tests using CTC (use of a fluorescent metabolite turns respiring cells fluorescent, allowing them to be quantified)

Epi-fluorescent DNA staining of Proteus Mirabilis Biofilm — DNA Staining

Water filtration and culture /microscopy
Molecular techniques allow us to detect the presence of a strain of bacteria by their DNA:
- PNA FISH (Fluorescence In-Situ Hybridisation) allow us to visually detect individual bacteria species from the rest of the microbial community
- Real time PCR can detect the presence of low levels of bacterial species in environmental samples
Viral culture and disinfection assays (murine norovirus, Influenza virus)
Fungal disinfection assays using Aspergillus brasiliensis (formerly A. niger) and other fungi

For more information please contact us .