Biomimetic Bacterial Identification Platform Basedon Thermal Wave Transport Analysis (TWTA) through Surface-ImprintedPolymers

摘要

This paper introduces a novel bacterial identification assay based on thermal wave analysis through surface-imprinted polymers (SIPs). Aluminum chips are coated with SIPs, serving as synthetic cell receptors that have been combined previously with the heat-transfer method (HTM) for the selective detection of bacteria. In this work, the concept of bacterial identification is extended toward the detection of nine different bacterial species. In addition, a novel sensing approach, thermal wave transport analysis (TWTA), is introduced, which analyzes the propagation of a thermal wave through a functional interface. The results presented here demonstrate that bacterial rebinding to the SIP layer resulted in a measurable phase shift in the propagated wave, which is most pronounced at a frequency of 0.03 Hz. In this way, the sensor is able to selectively distinguish between the different bacterial species used in this study. Furthermore, a dose–response curve was constructed to determine a limit of detection of 1 × 10⁴ CFU mL^–1, indicating that TWTA isadvantageous over HTM in terms of sensitivity and response time. Additionally,the limit of selectivity of the sensor was tested in a mixed bacterialsolution, containing the target species in the presence of a 99-foldexcess of competitor species. Finally, a first application for thesensor in terms of infection diagnosis is presented, revealing thatthe platform is able to detect bacteria in clinically relevant concentrationsas low as 3 × 10⁴ CFU mL^–1 in spikedurine samples.