Label-free bacteria quantification in blood plasma by a bioprinted microarray based interferometric point-of-care device.

Existing clinical methods for bacteria detection lack in speed, sensitivity and importantly in Point-of-Care (PoC) applicability. Thus, finding ways to push the sensitivity of clinical PoC biosensing technologies is crucial. Aiming that, we here report a portable PoC device based on Lens-free Interferometric Microscopy (LIM). The device employs high performance nanoplasmonics and custom bioprinted microarrays and is capable of direct label-free bacteria (E. coli) quantification. With only one-step sample handling we offer a sampletodata turnaround time of 40 minutes. Our technology features detection sensitivity of a single bacterial cell both in buffer and diluted blood plasma and is intrinsically limited by the number of cells present in the detection volume. When employed in a hospital setting, the device has enabled accurate categorization of sepsis patients (infectious SIRS) from control groups (healthy individuals and non-infectious SIRS patients) without false positives/negatives. User-friendly on-site bacterial clinical diagnosis can thus become a reality.