Development of a Lab-on-a-Chip Device for detection of Listeria in food samples

食品安全对加拿大至关重要。最近发生在一家肉类加工厂的李斯特菌暴发事件重新引起了人们对监测即食(RTE)肉制品中食源性病原体的兴趣。拟议的设备旨在几小时内检测食品样本中的单核细胞增多性李斯特菌。该设备将微流控和生物传感器集成在单个平台中，通常称为芯片实验室(LOC)。建议的LOC将有一个结合了最先进的光流体学原理和制造的无标签检测机制。该项目将涉及LOC的设计、分析和制造，原型将接受对单核细胞增多性李斯特菌的敏感性和特异性测试。预计拟议的LOC将对任何可能在RTE肉制品中爆发的李斯特菌提供及时的早期预警，并将成为加拿大食品检验局等监管机构监测肉类加工单位的重要工具

Food safety is of paramount importance to Canada. Recent episode of Listeria out-break in a meat processing plant has created renewed interest in monitoring of food borne pathogens in ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products. The proposed device is aimed to detect Listeria monocytogenes in food samples within a few hours. This device integrates the microfluidics and the biosensor within a single platform, commonly referred to as a Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC). The proposed LOC will have a label free detection mechanism incorporating the state-of-art optofluidics principles and fabrications. The project will involve design, analysis and fabrication of the LOC and the prototype will be tested for its sensitivity and specificity towards L. monocytogenes. It is expected that the proposed LOC will provide timely early warning to any possible Listeria out-breaks in RTE meat products and will be an important tool for the regulators, like Canadian Food Inspection Agency, to monitor the meat processing units