An integrated microfluidic device utilizing vancomycin conjugated magnetic beads and nanogold-labeled specific nucleotide probes for rapid pathogen diagnosis

A new microfluidic chip was developed that integrated two novel techniques for bacteria detection: vancomycin-conjugated magnetic beads for general capture of multiple strains of bacteria and nanogold labeled with specific nucleotide probes for sensitive and strain-specific bacteria detection. The vancomycin-conjugated beads demonstrated high capture rate for various species of both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The specific nanogold labeled probes displayed high specificity for targeted bacteria while demonstrating a limit of detection as low as 102 CFU of tested bacteria per reaction. The developed microfluidic chip should provide a powerful tool for simple, rapid, and yet reliable diagnosis of bacteria.80