Ultra Rapid Monitoring of Bacterial Nano-Growth and Antibiotic Susceptibility

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DESCRIPTION (provided by investigator): The rising resistance of bacteria to antibiotics has been referred to by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as "one of the world's most pressing health problems." The need for rapid antibiotic susceptibility tests is becoming more urgent due to the increasing resistance of bacteria. Increased antimicrobial resistance is a pervasive problem that has spanned decades and many bacterial strains. In the US, out of 2 million bacterial infections each year, there are approximately 90,000 deaths. "Superbugs" like Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) now kill more Americans than AIDS. Therefore, our long term goal is to develop a novel device that can perform rapid antimicrobial resistance measurements on the time-scale of 1 hour, which is much faster than current methods. The objective of this application is to develop a new method for rapid in vitro growth monitoring of bacteria for fast antibiotic susceptibility evaluations. The technique is based on fluidic micro-drag, using novel magnetic non- linear oscillators with nano-scale precision, which also allows "nano-growth" monitoring. This method will enable physicians and clinical pathologists to quickly and confidently determine the proper antimicrobial therapy. The Principal Investigator has relevant experience in applying physical and chemical techniques to medical applications and the collaborator is a clinical microbiology expert. The project's specific aims are to achieve rapid in vitro growth monitoring, as well as rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing, of (1) a small colony of bacteria and (2) single bacterial cells. The described approach, which is straightforward and inexpensive, will ultimately lead to the construction of a device that can be utilized in any clinical environment. Through the utilization of such a device, appropriate antimicrobial therapies will be quickly determined, which will reduce antimicrobial resistance and, most importantly, save lives. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: This application introduces a new approach, with nano-scale sensitivity, for very rapid determination of bacterial susceptibility to a given antibiotic. The proposed technique is expected to dramatically improve the treatment of infectious diseases by enabling fast determination of the proper choice and dosage of antibiotics/medications. The overall goal is to reduce morbidity and mortality in patients through a quick and efficacious treatment regimen, which will also lead to a reduced use of broad spectrum antibiotics and thus to a reduced emergence of "superbugs" with antibiotics resistance.