Lab-on-a-chip technology is advancing pathogen detection in individual samples, without the need for complex bulky equipment. Developed by Natalia Sandetskaya and colleagues at the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy & Immunology in Leipzig, Germany, the prototype lab-on-a-chip automates the detection process within a single device.

Documenting the development in Future Science, Sandetskaya tests the lab-on-a-chips effectiveness in the detection of E. coli and Salmonella. Using microfluids, the chip integrates sample volume transition, lysis, nucleic acid isolation, amplification and real-time fluorescence detection to test single samples previously untestable.

"We were motivated by the existing need for making the molecular analysis of complex samples much simpler for the users," said Sandetskaya. "Our particular applied interest is the detection of the pathogens in blood; for instance in sepsis, when only a few microorganisms must be rapidly found in a large volume of blood. Although our current prototype of the platform will need further development for this application, we have already demonstrated a high level of integration of very diverse processes without making the system overly complex.”