Researchers at IIT Guwahati have developed a novel low-cost, hand-held diagnostic device to detect bacteria almost instantaneously without the need for cell culture and microbiological assays.
The device will enable rapid detection of bacteria, which is important not only in healthcare, but also in anti-bioterrorism measures and environmental monitoring applications, according to the research published in the Journal of Materials Chemistry.
Bacterial infection is a common cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and despite development of a range of antibiotics, the challenge continues to lie in detecting and diagnosing bacterial infection early on, as present detection techniques tend to be time-consuming.