Bacterial contamination and subsequent infections are a major threat to human health. An early detection in the food chain, clinics or the environment, is key to limit this threat. We present a new concept to develop low-cost hand-held devices for the ultra-sensitive and specific detection of bacteria in a one-step process of 2-8h, directly from complex raw samples. This approach is based on a novel microfluidic magnetic fluidized bed. It reaches a 4CFU (colony forming unit) sensitivity with high quantification accuracy in a large dynamic range of 100-107CFU/mL. The versatility of the approach was demonstrated with the detection of different bacteria strains, among which Salmonella Typhimurium and E. coli O157:H15. Additionally, the method is sensitive to infectious bacteria only, a criterion requested by main applications and currently requiring additional culture steps of one to several days.

Aquila Bioscience limited Business Innovation Centre National University of Ireland Galway Galway Ireland; Glycoscience Group National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science National University of Ireland Galway Galway Ireland

Department of Biological and Biochemical Sciences Faculty of Chemical Technology University of Pardubice Pardubice Czech Republic

Laboratoire Phyisico Chimie Curie Institut Curie PSL Research University Paris France; Sorbonne Universités UPMC Univ Paris 06 Paris France

Laboratoire Phyisico Chimie Curie Institut Curie PSL Research University Paris France; Sorbonne Universités UPMC Univ Paris 06 Paris France; Institut Pierre Gilles de Gennes Paris France

Laboratory Pathogenesis of Bacterial Anaerobes Department of Microbiology Institut Pasteur Paris France

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