Comparison of methods to evaluate bacterial contact-killing materials.

Unlabelled: Cationic surfaces with alkylated quaternary-ammonium groups kill adhering bacteria upon contact by membrane disruption and are considered increasingly promising as a non-antibiotic based way to eradicate bacteria adhering to surfaces. However, reliable in vitro evaluation methods for bacterial contact-killing surfaces do not yet exist. More importantly, results of different evaluation methods are often conflicting.