Obiettivo
Legionella pneumophila is found in aquatic habitats especially in potable water systems cooling tower systems heat exchanger systems Human infection occurs through the inhalation of aerosols contaminated by Legionella spp An estimated 8 000 to 18 000 people are stricken with Legionnaires disease in EU 15 alone each year Up to 30 of people who have Legionnaires disease die The conventional method for detection of Legionella is a complicated procedure involving isolation in a selective medium However this method presents several problems including the presence of viable but nonculturable pathogens loss of viability after collection and the long time required for culture and confirmation which takes several days In addition detection is more difficult since Legionella can be inhibited and masked by the rapid or abundant growth of other microorganisms In order to avoid the problems encountered with the conventional analysis method an alternative method for rapidly detecting Legionella with high sensitivity is needed The aim of the proposed project is to develop new bioanalytical instruments in order to arrive at an analytical tool for the in situ detection of Legionella by a rapid and low cost assay The main objective is to develop a magnetoresistive biosensor device employing magnetic particles as biological markers which allow for real time measurements in order to achieve a detection limit of 50 CFU L 1 It will ensure that the Immunolegio device passes the strict threshold level regulation fixed at 100 CFU L 1 and enabling a complete analysis in a total test time of 30 minutes with a minimal enrichment stage...
Campo scientifico
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensorsbiosensors
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencessoftware
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencespublic health
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologybacteriology
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringcoating and films
Invito a presentare proposte
FP6-2004-SME-COOP
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