The microfluidic multiplex biosensor carries proteins attached to a polymer film that recognize the antibiotics.
Photo: Patrick Seeger
Freiburg researchers are testing a biosensor for personalized dosing of medications.
A team of engineers and biotechnologists at the University of Freiburg has for the first time shown in mammals that the concentration of antibiotics in the body can be determined using breath samples. The breath measurements also corresponded to the antibiotic concentrations in the blood. The team’s biosensor – a multiplex chip that allows simultaneous measurement of several specimens and test substances – will in future enable personalized dosing of medicines against infectious diseases on-site and help to minimize the development of resistant strains of bacteria.
The sensor developed by the research group headed by Dr. Can Dincer and H. Ceren Ates, FIT Freiburg Center for Interactive Materials and Bioinspired Technologies, and Prof. Dr. Wilfried Weber, Professor of Synthetic Biology and a member of the team of speakers at the Cluster of Excellence CIBSS – Centre for Integrative Biological Signalling Studies, is based on synthetic proteins that react to antibiotics and thus generate a current change. The researchers’ results are now being published in the journal Advanced Materials.
Previously researchers could only detect traces of antibiotics in the breath
The researchers tested the biosensor on the blood, plasma, urine, saliva and breath samples of pigs who had received antibiotics. They were able to show that the result achieved with biosensors in the pigs’ plasma were as accurate as the standard medical laboratory process. Previously, measurement of antibiotic levels in exhaled breath samples was not possible: “Until now researchers could only detect traces of antibiotics in the breath. With our synthetic proteins on a microfluidic chip, we can determine the smallest concentrations in the breath condensate and they correlate with the blood values,” explains Dincer.
Sensor will help to keep antibiotic level stable in severely ill
Physicians need to keep the antibiotics level within a personalized therapeutic range for patients suffering severe infections, at the risk of threats such as sepsis and organ failure or even the death of the patient. Inadequate administration of antibiotics could allow bacteria to mutate so that the medicines no longer work: they become resistant. “Rapid monitoring of antibiotic levels would be a huge advantage in hospital,” says Ates, “it might be possible to fit the method into a conventional face mask.” In another project at the University of Freiburg, Dincer is developing wearable paper sensors for the continuous measurement of biomarkers from exhaled breath. Clinical trials to validate the antibiotic biosensor by testing the system with human samples are planned.
Bacterial proteins as sensor
The microfluidic biosensor bears proteins that can recognize beta-lactam antibiotics such as penicillin, affixed to a polymer film. Antibiotic of interest in the sample and an enzyme-coupled beta-lactam are in competition to bind these bacterial proteins. This competition generates a current change – like in a battery: the more antibiotic there is present in the sample, the less enzyme product develops, which leads to a lower measurable current. The process is based on a natural receptor protein that resistant bacteria uses to detect the antibiotics that threatens them. “You could say we are beating the bacteria at their own game,” Weber says of the process developed by his group.
Original Article: Antibiotic levels measurable in breath for first time
More from: University of Freiburg
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Microfluidic multiplex biosensor
- Concourse Plaza Multiplex to close after 30 years, leaving just 1 theater for Bronx residentson April 26, 2024 at 1:29 am
And for more than 30 years, people in the Bronx turned to Concourse Plaza Multiplex Cinemas, but next month, the theater that has housed laughs, cries and everything in between, will shut its doors.
- Multiplex Cinemas closing Bronx location, 2 others in NYCon April 25, 2024 at 7:53 am
Multiplex Cinemas is closing several New York City locations, including its College Point theater in Queens, which closes on May 7, and its Jamaica location, which closes on April 30.
- Advancing Multiplex Nucleic Acid Detection for Clinical Diagnosticson April 10, 2024 at 5:51 am
Throughout this session, Jeff will discuss novel coding techniques and microfluidic digital detection strategies to improve the multiplexing capabilities of nucleic acid detection to aid in the ...
- FDA clears Affinity Biosensors’s LifeScale AST diagnostic platformon April 4, 2024 at 12:39 pm
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted clearance for Affinity Biosensors’s LifeScale AST system, a diagnostic tool for rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST). This ...
- Transdiagnostic Multiplex CBT for Muslim Cultural Groupson March 3, 2024 at 4:10 am
As Multiplex Therapy is transdiagnostic, targeting anxiety and mood disorders, the treatment is applicable to a large proportion of patients. Each chapter guides the reader through therapy sessions, ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Microfluidic multiplex biosensor
[google_news title=”” keyword=”microfluidic multiplex biosensor” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Microfluidic biosensor
- 3D Printing in Biomedical Sensing Technologyon May 2, 2024 at 4:01 am
By Taha Khan May 2 2024 Reviewed by Lexie Corner Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a type of additive manufacturing that constructs three-dimensional objects layer by layer from a digital model. This ...
- LV1 Low Volume Microfluidic System from Microfluidicson April 25, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Responding to customer demand, Microfluidics has launched the LV1 low volume benchtop machine, which brings high shear Microfluidizer processing capabilities to samples as small as 1 ml.
- Rapid Clone Screening of Biosimilar Candidates Using Microfluidic CE-MSon April 25, 2024 at 5:00 pm
Microfluidic capillary electrophoresis coupled to mass spectrometry (CE-MS) is an alternative approach for assessing charge heterogeneity. The microfluidic CE technology boasts low sample ...
- Biosensors Market Growth Foreseen To Achieve USD 63.07 Billion Value By 2032, With An Estimated 9% CAGRon April 18, 2024 at 5:00 pm
According to Market.us, the global biosensors market is projected to expand significantly, reaching an estimated value of approximately USD 63 billion by 2032, up from USD 27.2 billion in 2022. This ...
- Biolinq Snags $58M for ‘Smallest Biosensor in the World’on April 4, 2024 at 5:00 pm
The biosensor world has been trying to access this part of the skin for decades, but conducting this type of research has been expensive and laborious, he noted. In order to access this part of ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Microfluidic biosensor
[google_news title=”” keyword=”microfluidic biosensor” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]