A new technology developed by the United States-based company Nanologix speeds up the diagnostic process, potentially allowing hospitals to identify the presence of dangerous bacteria up to five times faster than conventional methods. The new process uses a membrane with nano-sized pores. Bacteria, and potentially viruses, move through the membrane’s pores and grow there. When the membrane is removed from the petri dish’s agar, and placed on a staining plate, it can indicate whether a particular offender is present. Bret Barnhizer, CEO of the company, said, “People knew for decades that microcolonies would be present in culture, but there was no way to transfer them or stain them in a way to make them visible.” Nanologix’s technology is sensitive enough to detect a single cell. Test kits that check for group B streptococcus, a bacteria that can cause feeding, breathing and other problems in a newborn baby if its mother is infected, cost between US$5 and $10, and the company has also developed test kits that can detect E. coli, salmonella, listeria, and more. Nanologix is working with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop kits that can quickly and reliably detect waterborne microorganisms such as E. coli and cryptosporidium. According to Gerard Stelma Jr., a senior microbiologist with the EPA, “It’s a really good technique, because it shortens a process of 12 to 18 hours to five or six, so we can get an answer about whether our target bacterium is there or not within a day. When I saw what they were doing, I thought this is the most novel new method I have seen in a number of years.”
http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/38404/