Nanosensors to Rapidly Detect Antibiotic-Resistant Superbugs (completed)

Optical image of multiple cantilever arrays. Each cantilever measures 500 µm long, 100 µm wide and 1 µm in thickness.

The growth of antibiotic resistant bacteria including MRSA is a global health problem, which costs the NHS more than £1billion per year. One of the major issues is the time required to correctly diagnose an infection, which can take up to 24 hours using classical microbiological methods. DNA microarrays can identify strains within ~4 hours but provide no direct information about the most appropriate therapy. This time lag is problematic for both the individual patient and hospital infection control but it also fuels the cycle of increasing antibiotic resistance due to the incorrect overuse of antibiotics.

The aim of the project was to undertake a proof-of-concept study to exploit miniaturised nanocantilevers to rapidly detect bacteria and identify resistance in a single step. Cantilever sensors have recently attracted much attention for rapid ‘label-free’ detection of single bacteria and viruses within minutes. Key advantages of these label-free sensors are that they do not require PCR amplification steps, fluorescent or radioactive tags and their miniaturised dimensions can be exploited for highly sensitive point-of-care intelligent diagnostics. The goal of this proposal is to develop cantilevers to directly detect clinically problematic antibiotic resistant bacteria to reduce patient mortality and morbidity.

The GMEC funded proof-of-concept study enabled the investigators to successfully apply for a £1.6 million ESPRC grant to study Multi-marker Nanosensors for HIV (2009-2012).