Ultrasensitive detection of bacteria using core-shell nanoparticles and a NMR-filter system

Original entry: Warren Lloyd Ung, APPHY 225, Fall 2009

"detection of bacteria using core-shell nanoparticles and a NMR-filter system"
Hakho Lee, Tae-Jong Yoon, and Ralph Weissleder.
Angewandte Chemie Internation Edition (2009).

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Soft Matter Keywords

magnetic nanoparticles, biosensors, NMR, microfluidics

Summary

Lee et al have constructed a device, which can detect bacteria in biological samples, by attaching magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) to the bacteria of interest, and observing the resultant nuclear magnetic resonance signal. In this particular study, they demonstrate the capacity for detecting small quantities of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in its relevant biological context, sputum. Such a device could have an impact on point of care diagnosis of infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, which is still a major cause of death worldwide.