Portable Automation Technology For Rapid Detection of Foodborne Pathogens

The overall goal of this SBIR research project is to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel portable microfluidic automation technology capable of rapid detection of foodborne pathogens during pre- and post-harvest processing and distribution. Specifically, we apply our patent-pending microfluidic automation technology as a platform to two well established laboratory-based pathogen separation and detection methods: immunomagnetic separation (IMS) and real time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). By integrating IMS and qPCR and including automated sample loading into a microfluidic format, we expect to detect as few as 1 cfu/25g of food with an enrichment time of 4 hours and a combined enrichment and analysis end-to-end time of 5 hours. In addition, we expect to perform rapid foodborne pathogen detections with sensitivity and specificity that are currently only achievable with laboratory-based manually performed procedures.