In vitro diagnostics encompasses a wide range of medical devices and assays, which aim to provide reliable and accurate diagnosis of disease. This can be achieved by detecting a target, for example, a protein biomarker or a pathogen bacterium, and/or host factors such as cytokines induced in an inflammatory response. Detection involves an assay to capture target molecules and distinguish them from other substances in an ex vivo sample matrix. Selective capturing can be achieved using affinity probes, such as antibodies or small molecules, often coupled to a label, for example, an enzyme or a particle, to facilitate detection in complex matrixes (Figure 1). Today, the combination of nanoparticle approaches for sample preparation/concentration, with high information content, rapid analysis by mass spectrometry, is changing the way we detect and identify pathogenic bacteria in the diagnosis of microbial infection.Most diagnostic assays are still carried out in centralised laboratories with equipment operated by dedicated laboratory personnel.Decentralised and rapid testing is important for time-critical diagnoses, where time affects morbidity and mortality outcomes for the patient, particularly in the case of bacteria sepsis. The trend towards decentralisation poses demanding constraints on assay technologies. Target molecules are present in body fluids in minute concentrations. To achieve high sensitivity detection, the physics, biology and chemistry of the sensing device, or biosensor, needs to be well integrated and controlled to transduce the presence of specific analytes into a measurable signal. This challenge is even harder when trying to detect bacteria, due to the incredible diversity of the genotype and phenotypes between species and within species. Detection of most pathogens is still carried out by culturing a clinical sample, a process susceptible to contamination, with a long lead time to diagnosis. Magnetic nanoparticles can be decorated with a high density of capture probes due to their extremely high surface-to-volume ratio 7 .Additionally, they can be externally manipulated by controlled magnetic fields in a background of a complex biological matrix.The bioactive coating on the surface captures and magnetically 'tags' the target, enabling magnetic enrichment 8 , washing and resuspension into a clean matrix or buffer to facilitate detection.Sensitive particle-based diagnostic nanotechnologies require efficient suppression of the background arising from non-specific interactions originating from the sample matrix. As a consequence, a great deal of research has focused on the development of robust surface architectures to extend assay applicability to complex matrixes. Hydrophilic polymer coatings (e.g. polyethylene glycol)are extensively exploited to reduce biofouling and to space the bioactive probes from the surface of the particle, which ameliorates risk of steric hindrance for analyte capture 9-11 . Once tagged, the target can be detected magnetically or optically (Table 1)