Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing using carbon screen printed electrodes in a microfluidic device

Abstract The development of rapid, sensitive, and affordable antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is essential for controlling antibiotic overuse, thereby creating a critical checkpoint for the emerging antimicrobial resistance threat. Here, we introduce a novel method of electrochemical monit...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Saranya Gopalakrishnan, Diksha Mall, Subramaniam Pushpavanam, Richa Karmakar
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-02-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84286-3
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850066981294702592
author Saranya Gopalakrishnan
Diksha Mall
Subramaniam Pushpavanam
Richa Karmakar
author_facet Saranya Gopalakrishnan
Diksha Mall
Subramaniam Pushpavanam
Richa Karmakar
author_sort Saranya Gopalakrishnan
collection DOAJ
description Abstract The development of rapid, sensitive, and affordable antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is essential for controlling antibiotic overuse, thereby creating a critical checkpoint for the emerging antimicrobial resistance threat. Here, we introduce a novel method of electrochemical monitoring of bacterial growth in a diluted low-conductivity nutrient medium for rapid susceptibility testing using impedance spectroscopy. The method works on the change in charge transfer resistance exhibited by bacteria in response to antibiotics. The proposed Electrochemical Microfluidic device (ε-µD) employs low-cost carbon screen-printed electrodes and uses a simple microfluidic geometry. We explored the utilisation of a diluted nutrient medium as an electrolyte since it provides a higher charge transfer baseline signal for better sensitivity and supports the growth of the bacteria required for detection. The method enables sensitive detection of bacteria even at a low density of 84/mm2 in three hours of incubation time. For proof of concept, bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis were used, and the efficacy of the ampicillin and tetracycline drugs were tested. The experiments were done with the spiked urine samples, which correlated well with the controlled sample. The proposed system enhances the accessibility and affordability of rapid susceptibility testing, enabling its widespread use.
format Article
id doaj-art-276e3821ab234cee8f3f8a2e9ab0540d
institution DOAJ
issn 2045-2322
language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Scientific Reports
spelling doaj-art-276e3821ab234cee8f3f8a2e9ab0540d2025-08-20T02:48:33ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-02-0115111210.1038/s41598-024-84286-3Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing using carbon screen printed electrodes in a microfluidic deviceSaranya Gopalakrishnan0Diksha Mall1Subramaniam Pushpavanam2Richa Karmakar3Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology MadrasDepartment of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology MadrasDepartment of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology MadrasDepartment of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology MadrasAbstract The development of rapid, sensitive, and affordable antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) is essential for controlling antibiotic overuse, thereby creating a critical checkpoint for the emerging antimicrobial resistance threat. Here, we introduce a novel method of electrochemical monitoring of bacterial growth in a diluted low-conductivity nutrient medium for rapid susceptibility testing using impedance spectroscopy. The method works on the change in charge transfer resistance exhibited by bacteria in response to antibiotics. The proposed Electrochemical Microfluidic device (ε-µD) employs low-cost carbon screen-printed electrodes and uses a simple microfluidic geometry. We explored the utilisation of a diluted nutrient medium as an electrolyte since it provides a higher charge transfer baseline signal for better sensitivity and supports the growth of the bacteria required for detection. The method enables sensitive detection of bacteria even at a low density of 84/mm2 in three hours of incubation time. For proof of concept, bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis were used, and the efficacy of the ampicillin and tetracycline drugs were tested. The experiments were done with the spiked urine samples, which correlated well with the controlled sample. The proposed system enhances the accessibility and affordability of rapid susceptibility testing, enabling its widespread use.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84286-3Impedance spectroscopyAntimicrobial susceptibility testingMicrofluidicsCarbon electrodesCharge transfer resistance
spellingShingle Saranya Gopalakrishnan
Diksha Mall
Subramaniam Pushpavanam
Richa Karmakar
Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing using carbon screen printed electrodes in a microfluidic device
Scientific Reports
Impedance spectroscopy
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing
Microfluidics
Carbon electrodes
Charge transfer resistance
title Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing using carbon screen printed electrodes in a microfluidic device
title_full Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing using carbon screen printed electrodes in a microfluidic device
title_fullStr Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing using carbon screen printed electrodes in a microfluidic device
title_full_unstemmed Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing using carbon screen printed electrodes in a microfluidic device
title_short Rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing using carbon screen printed electrodes in a microfluidic device
title_sort rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing using carbon screen printed electrodes in a microfluidic device
topic Impedance spectroscopy
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing
Microfluidics
Carbon electrodes
Charge transfer resistance
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-84286-3
work_keys_str_mv AT saranyagopalakrishnan rapidantimicrobialsusceptibilitytestingusingcarbonscreenprintedelectrodesinamicrofluidicdevice
AT dikshamall rapidantimicrobialsusceptibilitytestingusingcarbonscreenprintedelectrodesinamicrofluidicdevice
AT subramaniampushpavanam rapidantimicrobialsusceptibilitytestingusingcarbonscreenprintedelectrodesinamicrofluidicdevice
AT richakarmakar rapidantimicrobialsusceptibilitytestingusingcarbonscreenprintedelectrodesinamicrofluidicdevice