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Researchers from Bochum, Göttingen, Duisburg and Cologne in Germany have developed a new method for detecting bacteria and infections. They use fluorescent nanosensors for this purpose. This can be done much faster and easier than established methods.
The discovery of this new technique is attributed to a team of German scientists from the Ruhr Universität Bochum (RUB), led by Prof. Dr. Sebastian Kruß. Their research was published online yesterday in the academic journal Nature Communications.
In conventional methods, tissue samples must be taken and analyzed for bacteria. Sebastian Kruß’s team wants to make sampling obsolete. Instead, they aim to make pathogens visible using tiny optical sensors placed directly on the site of infection.
Fluorescence changes
The sensors are based on modified carbon nanotubes that are less than one nanometer in diameter. When irradiated with visible light, they glow in the near infrared range with a wavelength of approximately 1,000 nanometers and beyond. Such light is not visible to humans.
This fluorescent behavior changes when the nanotubes interact with certain molecules in their environment. Since bacteria secrete a distinctive mix of molecules, the glow of the sensors can therefore indicate the presence of specific pathogens.
In its ongoing work, the research team describes the sensors for many of these bacterial mixtures. This is how harmful pathogens associated with plant infections can be detected.
“The fact that the sensors work in the ‘near infrared range’ is particularly interesting for optical images. There are far fewer background signals in this range that could skew the results, ”says Sebastian Kruß Functional interfaces and Biosystems Group research department at RUB. Light of these wavelengths penetrates deeper into human tissue than visible light, which makes it possible to read bacterial sensors. This can also be achieved with wound dressings or implants.
Additional areas of application imaginable
“In the future, this could become a standard application for optical infection detection on smart plants. As a result, it will no longer be necessary to take samples. The healing process is improved in this way and a potential infection can be detected quickly. This, in turn, leads to better patient care, “says Robert Nißler, first author of the study and associate at the University of Göttingen.” Although the potential areas of application are not limited to this, “adds Kruß.” In a better rapid diagnosis of blood cultures in the context of sepsis is also conceivable “.
In addition to scientists from the Ruhr University of Bochum and del Institute of Physical Chemistry at the University of Göttingen, the teams of the Department of Medical Microbiology The Göttingen University Medical Center, the Cologne University Medical Center and the Fraunhofer Institute for Microelectronic Circuits and Systems in Duisburg were also involved in the research.
Read the original publication in Nature Communications via this link.
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