Detection of foodborne pathogens using novel vertical capacitive sensors

Food poisoning, infection of open wounds, and sepsis are the serious clinical conse-quences that pathogens can cause. Rapid identification of these pathogens allows prompt monitor -ing of infections, which improves clinical outcomes. An integrated platform is proposed to manipulate and identify the microorganisms (e.g., foodborne pathogens) in this work. An electrokinetic-based Actuator and capacitive-based sensor are the two primary components of the proposed platform. Dielectrophoresis-based microelectrode is proposed to manipulate the microorganisms. A novel vertical array of capacitive sensors is suggested To identify the levitated microorganisms. The mass of microorganisms can be extracted according to the applied dielec-trophoretic force respecting the gravitational force. The whole platform is simulated using 2D numerical simulation, COMSOL Multiphysics, to evaluate design efficiency. Furthermore, the pro-posed platform is developed and experimentally evaluated using the most common food bacterium type (Escherichia coli (E. coli)). The practical prototype is implemented using cheap technology (rigid and flexible printed circuit board technology). Experiments demonstrated that the proposed biochip could identify E. coli without the need of complex and expensive tools and with a simple manufacturing method. (c) 2021 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This article proposes an integrated platform for manipulating and identifying microorganisms, especially foodborne pathogens. By using an electrokinetic-based actuator and capacitive-based sensor, the manipulation and identification of microorganisms can be achieved. Experiments demonstrate that the platform can rapidly identify pathogens without the need for complex and expensive tools and methods.