Detecting bacteria and determining their susceptibility to antibiotics by stochastic confinement in nanoliter droplets using plug-based microfluidics.

ABSTRACT: This article describes plug-based microfluidic technology that enables rapid detection and drug susceptibility screening of bacteria in samples, including complex biological matrices, without pre-incubation. Unlike conventional bacterial culture and detection methods, which rely on incubation of a sample to increase the concentration of bacteria to detectable levels, this method confines individual bacteria into droplets nanoliters in volume. When single cells are confined into plugs of small volume such that the loading is less than one bacterium per plug, the detection time is proportional to plug volume. Confinement increases cell density and allows released molecules to accumulate around the cell, eliminating the pre-incubation step and reducing the time required to detect the bacteria

SUBMITTER: Boedicker JQ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2612531 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature