Inexpensive and fast pathogenic bacteria screening using field-effect transistors.

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Microbiology
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Current bacterial detection methods, such as culturing, are time-consuming and hinder rapid clinical diagnosis.
• There is a critical need for innovative, simple, rapid, and low-cost solutions for bacterial infection management.
• Pathogenic bacteria are responsible for numerous globally significant diseases and infections.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and demonstrate a novel label-free sensor for the fast detection of pathogenic bacteria.
• To utilize metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) for bacterial quantification.
• To establish the performance characteristics, including the limit of quantitation and speed, of the developed sensor.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a label-free sensor utilizing metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs).
• Glycosylation of MOSFET gates to facilitate bacterial binding.
• Detection and quantification of bacteria based on the electric charge associated with their binding to the sensor surface.

Main Results:

• The developed MOSFET sensor achieved a limit of quantitation of 1.9×10^5 CFU/mL.
• This performance is over 10,000 times more sensitive than electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and MALDI-ToF on similar surfaces.
• The sensor provides extremely fast measurements and is suitable for mass production at a low cost.

Conclusions:

• The label-free MOSFET sensor offers a significant advancement in rapid bacterial detection.
• Its high sensitivity, speed, and low cost make it a promising tool for initial pathogen screening.
• This technology can help reduce the burden of bacterial infections by enabling faster diagnostics.