Periodic Reporting for period 2 - POSEIDON (Plasmonic-based autOmated lab-on-chip SEnsor for the rapid In-situ Detection of LegiONella)
Berichtszeitraum: 2016-07-01 bis 2018-01-31
Legionnaires’ disease is a pneumonia with high fatality rate caused by Legionella Pneumophila, which proliferates in water distribution systems, cooling towers, evaporative condensers, spa/pools and air conditioning systems . Current testing are labour-intensive and time-consuming, based on in vitro culture. Poseidon project fits a new approach to bacteriological environmental monitoring and to the risk management of Legionella infections: an automatic and reliable detection platform has been designed and developed to collect and sequentially concentrate water and air samples, delivered through a microfluidic module to the SPR sensor for analysis.
The POSEIDON project developed an innovative sensing device architecture to yield reliable measurement readouts of pathogenic presence and to be applicable for detection of all serogroups L. pneumophila. The prototype system is composed of several custom components: the first working phase is the collection of the sample whether it is in water or in air. The Sampling and Pre-conditioning Unit (SPU), has a unique configuration, but it works differently depending on the sample type on subsequent steps: from the introduction of the sample in the funnel vessel, it runs a pre-concentration in a recirculation process: the air blowing in the vortex generated within the funnel strips off evaporating water, and thus concentrating the sample, until a fixed final volume is left in the collection pipette. Tests excluded any contamination of the environment from the vortex outlet of SPU. The configuration of SPU showed improved performances and it was checked with flow cytometry tests to demonstrate that Legionella losses were in the desired range: operating conditions of SPU assured higher cell recovery rate and the integrity of whole cells.
From the SPU, the sample is handled in a high-pressure system, with a microfluidic hydrodynamic concentrator, with its outlet to a manifold that leads to the open microfluidic incubator / SPR sensor. The manifold is also connected to the storage of the concentrated buffer that is required for buffering the concentrated sample when incubating on the sensing plasmonic surface. A suction pump is used for emptying the incubator and the blower is used to dry the chip before measuring. The rinsing of the microfluidic system is made from the SPU unit.
Sensors based on Grating Coupled Surface Plasmon Resonance (GC-SPR) in azimuthally rotating configuration have been used for detection of pathogens. Specificity has been ensured by immuno-based functionalization of grating surfaces and system sensitivity has been granted by the optimization of the optical detection system architecture.
The system is built as a flexible controller in which the SPR detector control application performs an analysis and delivers results on request. The analyser control layer has overall control over the analysis program including external devices and I/O modules. Moreover, further steps are foreseen for cleaning the fluidics and to set the system for the next measurement
Furthermore, a custom test aeraulic circuit was built to simulate real indoor and outdoor conditions and to intervene with appropriate countermeasures when the pathogens that could contaminate the rig were detected. It can be considered as representative of scaled-up HVAC systems and is an innovative tool to test air quality monitoring systems in controlled environmental conditions.
From the SPU, the sample is handled in a high-pressure system, with a microfluidic hydrodynamic concentrator, with its outlet to a manifold that leads to the open microfluidic incubator / SPR sensor. The manifold is also connected to the storage of the concentrated buffer that is required for buffering the concentrated sample when incubating on the sensing plasmonic surface. A suction pump is used for emptying the incubator and the blower is used to dry the chip before measuring. The rinsing of the microfluidic system is made from the SPU unit.
Sensors based on Grating Coupled Surface Plasmon Resonance (GC-SPR) in azimuthally rotating configuration have been used for detection of pathogens. Specificity has been ensured by immuno-based functionalization of grating surfaces and system sensitivity has been granted by the optimization of the optical detection system architecture.
The system is built as a flexible controller in which the SPR detector control application performs an analysis and delivers results on request. The analyser control layer has overall control over the analysis program including external devices and I/O modules. Moreover, further steps are foreseen for cleaning the fluidics and to set the system for the next measurement
Furthermore, a custom test aeraulic circuit was built to simulate real indoor and outdoor conditions and to intervene with appropriate countermeasures when the pathogens that could contaminate the rig were detected. It can be considered as representative of scaled-up HVAC systems and is an innovative tool to test air quality monitoring systems in controlled environmental conditions.
Legionella infections are constantly increasing in European countries as well as worldwide, with major impact on public health and in the risk assessment activities of hospitals and tourist accommodation facilities and spas. Microbial culture still holds the majority share of water testing market that was the largest and fastest growing segment of global Legionella testing market in the past: since it is labour-intensive and time-consuming, rapid automated tests are gaining popularity in the industry. In this context, POSEIDON project is an interesting contribution in preventing and combating the spread of Legionella infections, thanks to the use of advanced and rapid technologies, indispensable prerequisites for effective prevention and control activities.
The POSEIDON project developed an innovative sensing device architecture to yield reliable measurement readouts of pathogenic presence and to be applicable for detection of all serogroups L. pneumophila. The prototype system is composed of several custom components designed and integrated from the handling of the air/water sample in preconditioning unit for sequential concentration to the delivery in a microfluidic device through which whole bacteria cells are transported from the sampling module to the sensing plasmonic surface. The POSEIDON project further developed a custom test aeraulic circuit as an innovative tool to test air quality monitoring systems in controlled environmental conditions, both indoor and outdoor, and to plan appropriate countermeasures when the pathogens contaminating the rig were detected.
The possibility to obtain results in few hours, compared with several days required for conventional microbiological in vitro tests, would enable new approach to bacteriological environmental monitoring, having breakthrough impacts in the economic exploitation of new-generation devices and improved safety. Prompt and effective intervention is expected to decrease the number of outbreaks, resulting in improved health conditions, especially for immunocompromised people and elderly patients and to reduce the sanitary costs for the management of legionella-induced infections. Societal impact and security will be enhanced thanks to the introduction of automation in the monitoring systems, as the test procedure will require less intervention by operators and will assure higher safety level for people and the environment. The increasing need for real-time remote monitoring and actionable analytics in industries will aid in the growth of the market over the next few years.
Contemporary, the POSEIDON project would strengthen the competitiveness and growth of participating companies by developing innovations meeting the needs of European and global markets, and by bringing such innovations closer to these markets, sustaining Europe's industrial competitiveness and securing industrial technology leadership. Remote monitoring is another prospect that would determine further improvements and commercialization opportunities: indeed, the POSEIDON project fits the interesting trend and the advances in monitoring systems and intelligent technology, i.e. the integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) with industrial HVAC systems to improve the efficiency and reliability of the building automation system (BAS). Such a combination will help industries in reducing their carbon footprint by cutting down the annual energy costs as well as optimizing the management and risk assessment of buildings.
Finally, the POSEIDON project stressed the integration of several knowledges in fields of plasmonic sensing, microfluidics and surface functionalization. The core photonics sensor was fabricated having a route to low cost manufacture by using existing DVD manufacturing methods. In fact, the fabrication of plasmonic gratings through fast and cheap techniques on widely available supports (such as DVDs and CDs) could make the whole process cheaper, increasing the potential market penetration of the new devices.
The POSEIDON project developed an innovative sensing device architecture to yield reliable measurement readouts of pathogenic presence and to be applicable for detection of all serogroups L. pneumophila. The prototype system is composed of several custom components designed and integrated from the handling of the air/water sample in preconditioning unit for sequential concentration to the delivery in a microfluidic device through which whole bacteria cells are transported from the sampling module to the sensing plasmonic surface. The POSEIDON project further developed a custom test aeraulic circuit as an innovative tool to test air quality monitoring systems in controlled environmental conditions, both indoor and outdoor, and to plan appropriate countermeasures when the pathogens contaminating the rig were detected.
The possibility to obtain results in few hours, compared with several days required for conventional microbiological in vitro tests, would enable new approach to bacteriological environmental monitoring, having breakthrough impacts in the economic exploitation of new-generation devices and improved safety. Prompt and effective intervention is expected to decrease the number of outbreaks, resulting in improved health conditions, especially for immunocompromised people and elderly patients and to reduce the sanitary costs for the management of legionella-induced infections. Societal impact and security will be enhanced thanks to the introduction of automation in the monitoring systems, as the test procedure will require less intervention by operators and will assure higher safety level for people and the environment. The increasing need for real-time remote monitoring and actionable analytics in industries will aid in the growth of the market over the next few years.
Contemporary, the POSEIDON project would strengthen the competitiveness and growth of participating companies by developing innovations meeting the needs of European and global markets, and by bringing such innovations closer to these markets, sustaining Europe's industrial competitiveness and securing industrial technology leadership. Remote monitoring is another prospect that would determine further improvements and commercialization opportunities: indeed, the POSEIDON project fits the interesting trend and the advances in monitoring systems and intelligent technology, i.e. the integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) with industrial HVAC systems to improve the efficiency and reliability of the building automation system (BAS). Such a combination will help industries in reducing their carbon footprint by cutting down the annual energy costs as well as optimizing the management and risk assessment of buildings.
Finally, the POSEIDON project stressed the integration of several knowledges in fields of plasmonic sensing, microfluidics and surface functionalization. The core photonics sensor was fabricated having a route to low cost manufacture by using existing DVD manufacturing methods. In fact, the fabrication of plasmonic gratings through fast and cheap techniques on widely available supports (such as DVDs and CDs) could make the whole process cheaper, increasing the potential market penetration of the new devices.