We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Affordable automated phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility testing method based on a contactless conductometric sensor
Summary
This study developed a low-cost antibiotic susceptibility testing method using a contactless conductometric sensor that monitors bacterial growth in real time. While focused on clinical diagnostics rather than microplastics, antibiotic resistance is increasingly associated with microplastics in the environment, which harbor and spread resistant bacteria.
User-friendly phenotypic antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) methods are urgently needed in many fields including clinical medicine, epidemiological studies and drug research. Herein, we report a convenient and cost-effective phenotypic AST method based on online monitoring bacterial growth with a developed 8-channel contactless conductometric sensor (CCS). Using E. coli and V. parahaemolyticus as microorganism models, as well as enoxacin, florfenicol, ampicillin, kanamycin and sulfadiazine as antibiotic probes. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination was validated in comparison with standard broth microdilution (BMD) assay. The total essential agreements between the CCS AST assays and the reference BMD AST assays are 68.8-92.3%. The CCS has an approximate price of $9,000 (USD). Requiring neither chemical nor biotic auxiliary materials for the assay makes the cost of each sample < $1. The MICs obtained with the automated CCS AST assays are more precise than those obtained with the manual BMD. Moreover, in 72 percent of the counterpart, the MICs obtained with the CCS AST assays are higher than that obtained with the BMD AST assays. The proposed CCS AST method has advantages in affordability, accuracy, sensitivity and user-friendliness.
Sign in to start a discussion.
More Papers Like This
Novel droplet-based approach for investigating bacterial biofilm formation on microplastic
Researchers developed a droplet-based microfluidic approach to study bacterial biofilm formation on microplastics, enabling high-throughput analysis of how plastic surfaces promote biofilm growth. The method revealed that microplastics support biofilm formation that can harbor antibiotic-resistant bacteria, linking plastic pollution to antimicrobial resistance concerns.
Portable Impedance-Sensing Device for Microorganism Characterization in the Field
This study developed a portable microfluidic device using impedance spectroscopy to rapidly detect and characterize individual microorganisms in heterogeneous field samples. Portable detection technologies are also being applied to monitoring microorganisms associated with microplastic surfaces (the plastisphere) in water.
Cost-Effective and Wireless Portable Device for Rapid and Sensitive Quantification of Micro/Nanoplastics
Researchers developed a wireless portable device for rapid quantification of micro- and nanoplastics in water samples, offering a field-deployable alternative to laboratory-based analysis for environmental monitoring.
Protocol for low-cost quantification of microplastics through electrochemical impedance spectroscopy from aqueous matrices
Most methods for detecting microplastics in water require expensive equipment or time-consuming laboratory steps. This study presents a simple protocol using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) — measuring how microplastics change the electrical resistance of a solution — to rapidly and cheaply quantify plastic particles in water samples. Validated against conventional optical methods, the approach could make routine microplastic monitoring more affordable and accessible, particularly for lower-resource settings or high-throughput screening applications.
Droplet-Based Technology for Studying the Phenotypic Effect of Microplastics on Antimicrobial Resistance
This study used droplet-based microfluidic technology to investigate the phenotypic effects of microplastics on individual cells or organisms at high throughput. Droplet microfluidics enables rapid screening of how different microplastic concentrations and types affect biological responses at the cellular level.