ISFET Microchamber Arrays for Rapid Microorganism Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current automated blood culture systems take 12-48 hours to detect infectious microorganisms in blood, which is too long to alter treatment courses effectively, leading to potential patient deaths.
Innovation Solution
The use of miniaturized ion-sensitive field effect transistors (ISFET) arrays in centrifugable collection tubes to rapidly detect microorganism growth in biological samples, allowing for the detection of even single microorganisms within a few hours by measuring pH changes caused by their metabolic activity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If current automated blood culture systems are used to detect infectious microorganisms, then detection accuracy is maintained, but detection time is extended to 12-48 hours or up to 5 days
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the blood sample into multiple aliquots and distributes them across thousands of miniaturized chambers (e.g., 5,000-10,000 chambers), each containing an ISFET sensor. This segmentation allows parallel detection of microorganisms across numerous small volumes simultaneously, dramatically reducing detection time from days to hours while maintaining sensitivity through statistical distribution of the sample.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from macro-scale blood culture bottles to micro-scale chambers with volumes reduced by factors of thousands. This dimensional change from milliliter-scale to microliter/nanoliter-scale chambers enables rapid detection by minimizing the volume that needs to be scanned for microbial growth, while the array configuration compensates for the small individual chamber volumes.
2Loss of time
If miniaturized ISFET arrays are used to rapidly detect microorganisms, then detection time is reduced to less than 24 hours, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention integrates multiple functions into the miniaturized chamber array system: sample distribution, microbial cultivation, pH sensing, and data processing are combined into a single integrated platform. The ISFET sensors are directly embedded in the chamber bottoms, eliminating the need for separate sensing systems and reducing overall system complexity despite the high number of chambers.
Solution Approach 2:
The miniaturized chambers are designed to be self-contained units that automatically perform sample processing and microbial detection without requiring external intervention. The ISFET sensors autonomously detect pH changes caused by microbial metabolism, and the system automatically processes signals from thousands of chambers simultaneously, reducing the need for manual operations and complex control systems.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method significantly reduces detection time to less than 24 hours, enabling timely identification of infectious microorganisms and improving patient outcomes by providing rapid diagnostic results.
Implementation Method 1
Each of the plurality of chambers includes an ion sensitive field effect transistor (ISFET) positioned at a bottom of the chamber
Implementation Method 2
centrifugable collection tubes to rapidly detect microorganism growth in biological samples
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3
AI summary
An array of micro-chambers (220) with individual ion sensitive field effect transistors (ISFETs) (300) disposed therein for monitoring single cell activity in the microarray to determine the presence or absence of microorganisms in a sample (390). In addition to the presence or absence of a single cell, certain further embodiments contemplate monitoring cell behavior. Cell behavior includes the entire range of cell activity as well as cell response to changes in environmental conditions of changes in response due to the addition of sample constituents.