Detection of foodborne pathogens using novel vertical capacitive sensors

Food poisoning, infection of open wounds, and sepsis are the serious clinical consequences that pathogens can cause. Rapid identification of these pathogens allows prompt monitoring 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 dielectrophoretic force respecting the gravitational force. The whole platform is simulated using 2D numerical simulation, COMSOL Multiphysics, to evaluate design efficiency. Furthermore, the proposed 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.