What is it about?
Diagnosis of bloodstream infections is usually done in several steps. Detection is performed by a carbon dioxide sensor (a molecule produced by microbes as they grow in the vial). Since the response of this test is binary, an identification step is required. For this, the technique used is mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF). It requires time, chemical reagents and qualified personnel. In our study, we instrumented a blood culture bottle with electrochemical sensors. By studying the evolution of their potential, we are able to detect the bacterial growth but also to identify the microorganism in the vial, all without specific probe or chemical reagents.
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Why is it important?
This type of device allows early diagnosis at a very low cost. By deploying such a system, patients could be treated faster with the right antibiotics, which would improve survival rates and limit antibiotic resistance. The simplicity of the method allows its use in developing countries, which are the most affected by multidrug-resistant infections.
Perspectives
Two types of perspectives are considered in this work: - Studying the bacterial metabolites detected (basic research to understand the functioning of the system). - Manufacturing new electrochemical blood culture bottles for clinical trials.
Thibaut Babin
CEA
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Electrochemical label-free pathogen identification for bloodstream infections diagnosis: towards a machine learning based smart blood culture bottle, Sensors and Actuators B Chemical, March 2023, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.snb.2023.133748.
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