Adaptable microfluidic system for single-cell pathogen classification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing

Abstract

Infectious diseases caused by bacterial pathogens remain one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Rapid microbiological analysis is required for prompt treatment of bacterial infections and to facilitate antibiotic stewardship. This study reports an adaptable microfluidic system for rapid pathogen classification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) at the single-cell level. By incorporating tunable microfluidic valves along with real-time optical detection, bacteria can be trapped and classified according to their physical shape and size for pathogen classification. By monitoring their growth in the presence of antibiotics at the single-cell level, antimicrobial susceptibility of the bacteria can be determined in as little as 30 minutes compared with days required for standard procedures. The microfluidic system is able to detect bacterial pathogens in urine, blood cultures, and whole blood and can analyze polymicrobial samples. We pilot a study of 25 clinical urine samples to demonstrate the clinical applicability of the microfluidic system. The platform demonstrated a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 83.33% for pathogen classification and achieved 100% concordance for AST.

An Electrochemical Biosensor Platform for Rapid Immunoanalysis of Physiological Fluids

“…In the future, additional antibody pairs could be incorporated for immunoprofiling and the biosensor system could be automated by microfluidics for minimizing the manual handling of samples and be applicable to other physiological fluids, such as whole blood. The immunoanalysis system can also be combined with other microfluidic analysis systems for a comprehensive analysis of infections and inflammation [27], [28].…”

Microfluidic systems for rapid antibiotic susceptibility tests (ASTs) at the single-cell level

“…4). 33 By incorporating tunable microuidic valves along with real-time optical detection, the bacteria can be trapped and classied according to their sizes and physical shapes for pathogen classication. By monitoring the bacterial growth in the presence of antibiotics at the single-cell level, the antimicrobial susceptibility can be determined in 30 min.…”

Biofilm formation and extracellular microvesicles—The way of foodborne pathogens toward resistance

“…An analysis of current and near‐future technologies for detection of bacteria [230] has the following result: presently, the shortest time necessary for sample preparation and the detection of pathogen bacteria is minimally about 2 h long (and more, see Ref. [235]); near future based technologies like Raman spectrometry [236] or microfluidic technologies [237] are also time consuming, again for the reason of sample pretreatment. The abovementioned food‐derived sensors based on biocompatible materials like polysaccharides, lipids, and proteins for POC detection [228] of food pathogens may be a future ray of hope.…”