Department of Power Mechanical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30013 Taiwan.
Laboratory Medicine, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University, Kaohsiung, 83301 Taiwan.
Biosens Bioelectron. 2017 Jan 15;87:669-678. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2016.09.008. Epub 2016 Sep 3.
Bacterial resistance to antimicrobial compounds is increasing at a faster rate than the development of new antibiotics; this represents a critical challenge for clinicians worldwide. Normally, the minimum inhibitory concentration of an antibiotic, the dosage at which bacterial growth is thwarted, provides an effective quantitative measure for antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and determination of minimum inhibitory concentration is conventionally performed by either a serial broth dilution method or with the commercially available Etest (Biomerieux, France) kit. However, these techniques are relatively labor-intensive and require a significant amount of training. In order to reduce human error and increase operation simplicity, a simple microfluidic device that can perform antimicrobial susceptibility testing automatically via a broth dilution method to accurately determine the minimum inhibitory concentration was developed herein. As a proof of concept, wild-type (ATCC 29212) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus cells were incubated at five different vancomycin concentrations on-chip, and the sample injection, transport, and mixing processes occurred within five reaction chambers and three reagent chambers via the chip's automatic dispensation and dilution functions within nine minutes. The minimum inhibitory concentration values measured after 24h of antibiotic incubation were similar to those calculated using Etest. With its high flexibility, reliability, and portability, the developed microfluidic device provides a simple method for antimicrobial susceptibility testing in an automated format that could be implemented for clinical and point-of-care applications.
细菌对抗生素化合物的耐药性的增长速度快于新抗生素的开发速度；这对全球临床医生来说是一个巨大的挑战。通常情况下，抗生素的最小抑菌浓度（MIC），即阻止细菌生长的剂量，为抗菌药敏试验提供了一种有效的定量测量方法，而 MIC 的测定通常通过连续肉汤稀释法或市售的 Etest（法国生物梅里埃公司）试剂盒进行。然而，这些技术相对来说劳动强度较大，并且需要大量的培训。为了减少人为错误并提高操作简便性，本文开发了一种简单的微流控装置，该装置可以通过肉汤稀释法自动进行抗菌药敏试验，从而准确地确定最小抑菌浓度。作为概念验证，在五个不同的万古霉素浓度下，将野生型（ATCC 29212）和万古霉素耐药肠球菌细胞在芯片上孵育，通过芯片的自动分配和稀释功能，在 9 分钟内，样品的注入、输送和混合过程在五个反应室和三个试剂室中进行。在抗生素孵育 24 小时后测量的最小抑菌浓度值与 Etest 计算的值相似。该微流控装置具有高度的灵活性、可靠性和便携性，为抗菌药敏试验提供了一种简单的自动化方法，可用于临床和即时护理应用。
