In Vitro Laser Ablation of Natural Marine Biofilms

We studied the efficiency of pulsed low-power laser irradiation of 532 nm from an Nd:YAG (neodymium-doped yttrium-aluminum-garnet) laser to remove marine biofilm developed on titanium and glass coupons. Natural biofilms with thicknesses of 79.4 ± 27.8 μm (titanium) and 107.4 ± 28.5 μm (glass) were completely disrupted by 30 s of laser irradiation (fluence, 0.1 J/cm 2 ). Laser irradiation significantly reduced the number of diatoms and bacteria in the biofilm (paired t test; P