I-Corps: Field-deployable Diagnostic Laboratory for the Food Industry

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a field-deployable, food safety assessment platform. Current protocols require that food samples be shipped and further analyzed in a central laboratory. Food products under testing will have already been sold and consumed by the customer. The aims of this effort are to provide the inspection results within 10-12 hrs so the manufacturers have timely feedback, and to enable database options to digitally manage the inspection results and records so that this information could be potentially integrated into the upcoming block chain revolution in the food safety area. Success will provide earlier time-to-detection of food pathogens so that regulatory agencies can implement more rapid countermeasures to potential outbreak situations. For manufacturers, the goal is to provide timely test to results so that manufacturers themselves may conduct their own inspections and find the vulnerable spots for contamination. For farmers and growers, the goal is to provide on-site microbial inspection results so that they may take measures internally without going through reporting and full-scale inspections. This effort may help each of the stakeholders so that they may take the initiative of ensuring effective microbial inspection and keep the food supply safe for all.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a portable food safety instrument. For the food safety area, the highlight is the bacteriophage-based assay that has high specificity with respect to the target food-borne pathogen, E.coli O157:H7. This patented assay only infects the target bacteria by integrating into the chromosome and does not kill the bacteria itself. At the same time, integrated genes are coded to generate photons at a wavelength around 495 nm. While conventional methods require a laboratory-based, high sensitivity measurement system (a luminometer) to detect the low level photon signal, this technology is pushing the limits of conventional, complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-based senors, which are often used in smartphone cameras. The proposed hardware design for efficient photon capturing and the ensemble averaging-based noise reduction algorithm enables the detection of extremely low levels of light from commercial smartphones. Food spike testing with ground beef as a food matrix have resulted in positive signal detection within 10-12 hrs after inoculation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.