Portable automation technology for rapid detection of foodborne pathogens

The overall goal of this Phase II SBIR research project is to develop, build, and test a novel portable microfluidic automation prototype instrument capable of rapid detection of foodborne pathogens during pre- and post-harvest processing and distribution. Specifically, we apply our patented microfluidic automation technology as a platform to two well established laboratory-based pathogen separation and detection methods: immunomagnetic separation (IMS) and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). By integrating IMS and qPCR and including automated sample loading into a microfluidic format, the Phase II prototype will be able to detect as few as 1 cfu/25g of food with an enrichment time of 5 hours and a combined enrichment and analysis end-to-end time of 6 hours. In addition, Phase II prototype will be able to perform rapid foodborne pathogen detections with sensitivity and specificity that are currently only achievable with laboratory-based manually performed procedures.