A new membrane-type microfluidic device for rapid bacteria isolation

摘要

This study presents a simple microfluidic device which can perform sample pretreatment automatically for rapid bacteria detection. Herein, a new approach to rapidly isolate bacteria incorporated with vancomycin-conjugated magnetic beads by using a new membrane-type microfluidic component with a floating block was proposed and its performance was tested and verified. The experimental results showed the proposed device can automatically isolate methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from 4 μL of samples within 90 seconds including bacteria isolation and washing processes. Not only does the new membrane-type microfluidic device perform rigid mixing, but it is also capable of uniform sample transportation. Furthermore, it has been successfully demonstrated that it could isolate bacteria in an automated format. With its great mixing efficiency and robust performance, the proposed device might be a promising approach for bacteria diagnosis.