Towards Rapid Diagnostics: Integrating Microfluidics and Spectroscopy for Bacterial Detection

This thesis presents fast and simple ways to detect bacteria in different samples such as water, serum and urine. Conventional methods of bacterial detection take days, but the thesis discusses different strategies for bacterial detection within hours. The aims included an assay for quick (2 hours) and sensitive (0.01 CFU/mL) detection, a microfluidic device for breaking down bacterial cells, and a device for concentrating cells from low quantity samples. All three aims were integrated with different spectroscopic techniques, which served as a quick & simple way of analysing samples. Together, these methods can help with disease diagnosis and environmental monitoring in point-of-care settings.