Microfluidics for Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing
Since the dawn of automated technologies, antibiotic susceptibility tests have been perpetually improvised and, hence, have superseded conventional phenotypic methods. Automation, simplicity, and compactness are the main reasons for their widespread acceptance in diagnostics. Microfluidics-based diagnostics are one of the most promising emerging tools for antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST). Microfluidics is a growing field characterized by the manipulation of fluids in micro-volume, thus providing portability, cost-effectiveness, multiplexing, reproducibility, and controlled environments in vitro systems. Creative Biolabs' scientists are highly qualified with extensive experience and exceptional skills in the fields of live biotherapeutic product (LBP) development, including the AST by microfluidics technology. Our goal is to provide customers with affordable development services and reliable results.
Microfluidic Methods for AST
Microfluidics is an emerging technology that deals with the manipulation of a small amount of fluid typically on an integrated circuit of micrometer-sized fluidic channels. Microfluidics is considered a promising tool compared to traditional techniques because it enables precise manipulation and control of microvolume samples. In addition, low cost, small sample size, scalability, batch performance, multiplexing, and high throughput are its attractive features. Researchers have shown that problem of conventional AST can be easily addressed by microfluidics as it offers automation and high-throughput analysis.
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Bacterial AST at the Single-Cell Level
By confining cells to micron-scale environments, microfluidics enables individual bacteria to divide early, ultimately shortening AST time.
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Bacterial Persisters and Non-Growing but Metabolically Active (NGMA) Bacteria
The small group of bacteria that tolerate antibiotics without genetic changes are known as persistent bacteria. Microfluidic devices with single-cell resolution have been used to study the mechanisms of persistent formation and its growth dynamics, to improve understanding of bacterial survival strategies, and to advance the development of personalized antibiotic therapy for chronic diseases.
The features of microfluidics not only promote biofilm formation but also help to evaluate the factors affecting biofilm growth and the eradication effect of antibiotics on biofilm. The antibiotic susceptibility test of biofilm is carried out by single channel microfluidic chip, and the antibiotic concentration is prepared outside the chip.
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Combinatorial Effect of Antibiotics
Scientists developed a multiplexed reactor array to investigate the combinatorial effect of two or four different antibiotics while significantly reducing AST time to 2~4 h.
Fig.1 Microfluidic systems for assessing the effects of antibiotics on single cells, biofilms, and effects of multiple antibiotic combinations. (Dai, 2016)
Advantages of Microfluidics for AST
The field of microfluidics promises several advantages over existing macro-scale methods:
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Increased multiplexing means that many tests can be run in parallel on a single sample.
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Automated assays require less training for operators and improve reproducibility.
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The use of smaller volumes means that precious reagents are conserved and costs are reduced.
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A smaller footprint also increases portability and potential point-of-care use.
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The shorter diffusion distances and sensitive detection methods allow for faster assay times.
Microfluidic tools are the future of AST, especially for point-of-care testing. Current microfluidic devices offer many advantages in terms of time and complexity of susceptibility testing, to some extent overcoming many of the complexities of traditional methods. Creative Biolabs provides the highest quality custom services of different sizes and reasonable prices in the LBP industry. If you are interested in our AST services with microfluidic methods, please contact us for more detail.
Reference
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Dai, J.; et al. Microfluidics for antibiotic susceptibility and toxicity testing. Bioengineering. 2016, 3(4): 25.
For Research Use Only. Not intended for use in food manufacturing or medical procedures (diagnostics or therapeutics). Do Not Use in Humans.
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