Collaborative Research: A Miniaturized Uropathogen Detection System

Rapid detection of bacterial pathogens is critical towards judicious management of infectious diseases, especially in emergency situations and high-risk areas such as hospitals, airports, rural clinics, and temporary clinics established in response to disasters. In settings where highly infectious pathogens are suspected, point-of-care detection will lead to timely initiation of appropriate treatments, which will reduce the infected individuals morbidity and mortality, as well as address public health concerns by efficient triaging of the uninfected from the infected. However, standard procedures for pathogen detection are labor-intensive, time consuming, and requires a centralized laboratory. The process involves culturing the bacteria for generally 1-2 days, and even longer for some slow growing pathogens. Furthermore, bacterial concentrations are estimated by the counting of the colony forming unit (CFU) per ml (CFU/ml) by experienced personnel. The current practice imposes several limitations including significant delay due to the need to deliver sample to a centralized laboratory, complex manual sample processing steps, and the time lag needed for bacterial growth. In this proposal, we will design and implement a microfluidic-based, point-of-care diagnostic system to address the critical need of rapid identification and quantification of pathogenic agents.