This presentation, titled „CFU and Bioaerosol Measurement in Hospital Environments and Indoor Contaminant Tracking,” was delivered by Professor Guangyu Cao from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) as part of the European Union-funded HumanIC project. It examines the various sources of microbiological contaminants in hospitals—including medical staff, surgical activities, and ventilation systems—which are primary drivers of surgical site infections. The content establishes the importance of Colony-Forming Units (CFU) and Plaque-Forming Units (PFU) as standard metrics for monitoring viable bacteria and viruses in the air. Case study one details the experimental measurement of airborne particles and CFUs in an operating room equipped with a laminar airflow (LAF) system to evaluate environmental standards. The second case study focuses on how different types of surgical clothing and varying activity levels during simulated operations impact the concentration of contaminants near the surgical wound. In the third case study, researchers utilized depth registration sensing technology to correlate specific surgical team movements with the spatial distribution of bacterial shedding. Finally, the presentation discusses advanced contaminant tracking methods, including tracer gas analysis, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling, and real-time sensor-based monitoring.
