Novel device detects bacteria and suggests apt antibiotic

• The device could save precious hours in patient care and public health, and prevent the spread of drug-resistant strains of bacteria.
• The team’s findings can help in detecting bacteria and measure their susceptibility to antibiotics in small confined volumes.
• The device was designed to look for and trap different types of bacteria and find out which antibiotics are most effective against them.
• Rather than growing bacterial cultures then testing them, the microscopic device relies on nano-scale technology for fast results.
• The main feature of the device is a cantilever, a plank that resembles a diving board that has a microfluidic channel 25 times smaller than the width of a hair etched on its surface.
• The channel is coated with biomaterials, like antibodies, that harmful bacteria like E. coli or Listeria in fluid samples stick to.
• When bacteria are caught, the device sends out three different signals to the researchers.
• When bacteria is detected the cantilever’s mass changes, and it bends, explained researcher Thomas Thundat.
• “So, this gives us two signals: the mass change and the bending action by shining infrared light on the bacteria, a third signal is sent, he added. If the bacterial absorbs the light it begins to vibrate, generating a minute amount of heat that sends a confirmation signal.
• Having three detection methods means there is no ambiguity, he said.
• “By monitoring the interaction of light and bacteria, we can get highly selective detection of bacteria,” said Faheem Khan, another expert.
• With the bacteria trapped in the cantilever, different antibiotic drugs can be added to the device.
• Changes in the intensity of tiny oscillations of the cantilever signal will inform the researchers whether the bacteria are alive or dead.
• The researchers then know which antibiotics the bacteria are susceptible to.
• “We’re trying to find a way to fight bacterial resistance to drugs and prevent or at least decrease the spread of drug-resistant strains,”
• said Hashem Etayash, a researcher.
• Adding, “We’re able to do several tests in a very short period of time and we can quickly identify bugs that can resist antibiotics.”
• The device can be used to test extremely small fluid samples, millions of times smaller than a rain droplet.
• The size of the device is advantageous when you only want a very small sample, in settings such as a neonatal intensive care unit, or in
• situations where only very small samples are available.

Novel device, detects, bacteria, suggests, apt antibiotic