Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Using High Surface-to-Volume Ratio Microchannels

摘要

This study reports the use of microfluidics, which intrinsicallynhas a large surface-to-volume ratio, toward rapidnantimicrobial susceptibility testing at the point of care. Bynobserving the growth of uropathogenic Escherichia colinin gas permeable polymeric microchannels with differentndimensions, we demonstrate that the large surface-tovolumenratio of microfluidic systems facilitates rapidngrowth of bacteria. For microchannels with 250 μm ornless in depth, the effective oxygenation can sustain thengrowth of E. coli to over 109 cfu/mL without externalnagitation or oxygenation, which eliminates the requirementnof bulky instrumentation and facilitates rapidnbacterial growth for antimicrobial susceptibility testingnat the point of care. The applicability of microfluidicnrapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing is demonstratednin culture media and in urine with clinicalnbacterial isolates that have different antimicrobialnresistance profiles. The antimicrobial resistance patternncan be determined as rapidly as 2 h compared tondays in standard clinical procedures facilitating diagnosticsnat the point of care.