Rapid, PoN Antimicrobial Susceptibility Tests for UTI
At EdwardsLab we use microfluidic devices to develop rapid antimicrobial resistance tests for UTI infections. These tests use a hydrophillic microcapillary film with different capillaries coated with antibiotics. The urine sample is then mixed with a metabolic dye that turns from blue to pink or from non-fluorescent to fluroescent in the presence of bacteria.
Using these hydrophillic microcapillary film strips, a single well of a 96 well plate can be expanded to 10 individual tests. We use 3D printing rapid prototyping to make accessories for the microcapillary strips like the clip on ladder.
Time-lapse imaging with low-cost hardware
To monitor our experiments we use low-cost hardware such as raspberry pi computers and cameras that we can program to take images at specific time points. We have added a raspberry pi camera to a 3D printer frame. This allows us to switch on LEDs, take a picture and move over an imaging area to increase out throughput of experiments. We have several 3D printers in the lab to design and print in-house components for building these imaging systems – allowing us to quickly adapt imaging systems to whatever you want to measure.
Take a look at our PLOS One publication on low-cost raspberry pi based imaging setup here.
Using timelapse imaging and microcapillaries allows us to
- Determine the starting concentration of bacteria in an unknown sample
- Rapidly determine susceptability profiles for different antibiotics
Milk-Guard
Dr Al Edwards and Dr Partha Ray have been working along with Capillary Film Technology, Design Science and the National Institute of Animal Biotechnology in India to create an easy to use and portable test to tackle AMR in dairy farming. The project funded by Innovate UK involved developing a rapid test to help vets identify effective antibiotics in the treatment of mastitis – an infection in dairy cattle. By treating the animal with a known effective antibiotic allows for a reduction in the misuse of antibiotics, a step to reducing antimicrobial resistance.
For more information visit:
https://www.reading.ac.uk/news-and-events/releases/PR849287.aspx
https://milk-guard.com/