SBIR Phase I: A simple, rapid field culture test to quantify Vibrio cholerae in drinking water

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响是开发一种新的水质测试，检测和测量饮用水样品中的霍乱弧菌。该测试是一种易于使用，可现场部署和选择性的测试，不需要实验室，电力或复杂，昂贵的测试设备和方法。该技术可在约24小时内生成快速检测结果。霍乱是一种水传播疾病，人们在饮用被粪便细菌霍乱弧菌污染的水时感染。这种疾病是一种国际公共卫生负担，在饮用水不安全和卫生条件差的国家普遍存在。水质检测是一种监测工具，用于监测饮用水供应和霍乱弧菌来源，帮助预防霍乱爆发，追踪霍乱爆发的来源，并评估水卫生的必要性和有效性。这项环境技术将有助于影响国内和国际环境测试、水、环境卫生和个人卫生以及公共健康。SBIR第1阶段项目将开发用于检测饮用水中霍乱弧菌的新型生长培养基。目前可用的培养基不能区分霍乱弧菌和其他弧菌。技术上的挑战是开发一种可现场部署的、直接的、定量的、单步的、基于培养的测试方法。该项目将为两种产生不同类型测试结果的测试方法开发新的生长培养基：最可能数定量和菌落形成单位定量。 技术障碍包括：精制培养基的组成，优化两种测试方法的培养基应用，用挑战性测试沃茨验证两种方法，评价培养基稳定性和保存期，以及对照标准竞争技术评价培养基。成功的培养基将满足灵敏度、特异性、阳性预测值和阴性预测值的所有要求。成功的培养基也将有一到两年的保质期。该测试对于任何人来说都可以在现场轻松使用，无需实验室或电力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并且通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop a new water quality test that detects and measures Vibrio cholerae bacteria in drinking water samples. The test is an easy-to-use, field-deployable, and selective without requiring a lab, electricity or complex, expensive testing equipment and methods. The technology generates rapid test results in about 24 hours. Cholera is a waterborne disease that people contract when they drink water contaminated by the fecal bacteria Vibrio cholerae. The disease is an international public health burden prevalent in countries with unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation. The water quality test is a surveillance tool that monitors drinking water supplies and sources for Vibrio cholerae, helps prevent cholera outbreaks before they occur, track sources of cholera outbreaks, and evaluates the necessity and effectiveness of water sanitation. This environmental technology will help impact domestic and international environmental testing, water, sanitation and hygiene, and public health. This SBIR Phase 1 project will develop novel growth media for the detection of Vibrio cholerae in drinking water. Currently available media do not differentiate between Vibrio cholerae and other Vibrio species. The technical challenge is to develop a field-deployable, direct, quantitative, single-step, culture-based testing method. The project will develop new growth media for two testing methods that generate different types of test results: Most Probable Number quantification and Colony Forming Unit quantification. Technical hurdles include: refining the composition of the media, optimizing the application of the media for both testing methods, validating both methods with challenging test waters, evaluating media stability and shelf life, and evaluating the media against standard, competing technologies. Successful media will meet all requirements for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value. Successful media also will have a one to two-year shelf life. The test will be easy for anyone to use in the field without needing a lab or electricity.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.