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

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Biotechnology
• Medical Diagnostics

Background:

• Bacterial infections cause significant global morbidity and mortality.
• Rapid diagnostics are crucial for effective treatment and antibiotic stewardship.
• Current antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) methods are time-consuming.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate an adaptable microfluidic system for rapid pathogen classification and AST.
• To enable single-cell level analysis for precise bacterial identification and susceptibility determination.
• To reduce the time required for microbiological analysis from days to minutes.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a microfluidic system with tunable valves and real-time optical detection.
• Trapped bacteria for classification based on physical characteristics (shape, size).
• Monitored bacterial growth in the presence of antibiotics at the single-cell level for AST.

Main Results:

• The microfluidic system achieved 100% sensitivity and 83.33% specificity for pathogen classification.
• Demonstrated 100% concordance for antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST).
• Successfully detected pathogens in various sample types, including urine, blood cultures, and whole blood, including polymicrobial samples.

Conclusions:

• The microfluidic platform offers rapid, single-cell level pathogen classification and AST.
• This technology significantly shortens diagnostic timelines compared to standard methods.
• The system shows high potential for clinical application in diagnosing and managing bacterial infections.