Accessibility Statement Skip Navigation
  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing
  • Login
  • GDPR
  • Create a Free Account
Return to PRWeb homepage
  • News
  • Resources
  • Contact
When typing in this field, a list of search results will appear and be automatically updated as you type.

Searching for your content...

No results found. Please change your search terms and try again.
  • News in Focus
      • Browse News Releases

      • All News Releases
      • Multimedia Gallery

      • All Multimedia
      • All Photos
      • All Videos
  • Business & Money
      • Auto & Transportation

      • Aerospace, Defense
      • Air Freight
      • Airlines & Aviation
      • Automotive
      • Maritime & Shipbuilding
      • Railroads and Intermodal Transportation
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Transportation, Trucking & Railroad
      • Travel
      • Trucking and Road Transportation
      • View All Auto & Transportation

      • Business Technology

      • Blockchain
      • Broadcast Tech
      • Computer & Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Components
      • Electronic Design Automation
      • Financial Technology
      • High Tech Security
      • Internet Technology
      • Nanotechnology
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Semiconductors
      • View All Business Technology

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Financial Services & Investing

      • Accounting News & Issues
      • Acquisitions, Mergers and Takeovers
      • Banking & Financial Services
      • Bankruptcy
      • Bond & Stock Ratings
      • Conference Call Announcements
      • Contracts
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Dividends
      • Earnings
      • Earnings Forecasts & Projections
      • Financing Agreements
      • Insurance
      • Investments Opinions
      • Joint Ventures
      • Mutual Funds
      • Private Placement
      • Real Estate
      • Restructuring & Recapitalization
      • Sales Reports
      • Shareholder Activism
      • Shareholder Meetings
      • Stock Offering
      • Stock Split
      • Venture Capital
      • View All Financial Services & Investing

      • General Business

      • Awards
      • Commercial Real Estate
      • Corporate Expansion
      • Earnings
      • Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
      • Human Resource & Workforce Management
      • Licensing
      • New Products & Services
      • Obituaries
      • Outsourcing Businesses
      • Overseas Real Estate (non-US)
      • Personnel Announcements
      • Real Estate Transactions
      • Residential Real Estate
      • Small Business Services
      • Socially Responsible Investing
      • Surveys, Polls and Research
      • Trade Show News
      • View All General Business

  • Science & Tech
      • Consumer Technology

      • Artificial Intelligence
      • Blockchain
      • Cloud Computing/Internet of Things
      • Computer Electronics
      • Computer Hardware
      • Computer Software
      • Consumer Electronics
      • Cryptocurrency
      • Data Analytics
      • Electronic Commerce
      • Electronic Gaming
      • Financial Technology
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Multimedia & Internet
      • Peripherals
      • Social Media
      • STEM (Science, Tech, Engineering, Math)
      • Supply Chain/Logistics
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Consumer Technology

      • Energy & Natural Resources

      • Alternative Energies
      • Chemical
      • Electrical Utilities
      • Gas
      • General Manufacturing
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Oil & Energy
      • Oil and Gas Discoveries
      • Utilities
      • Water Utilities
      • View All Energy & Natural Resources

      • Environ­ment

      • Conservation & Recycling
      • Environmental Issues
      • Environmental Policy
      • Environmental Products & Services
      • Green Technology
      • Natural Disasters
      • View All Environ­ment

      • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Aerospace & Defense
      • Agriculture
      • Chemical
      • Construction & Building
      • General Manufacturing
      • HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning)
      • Machinery
      • Machine Tools, Metalworking and Metallurgy
      • Mining
      • Mining & Metals
      • Paper, Forest Products & Containers
      • Precious Metals
      • Textiles
      • Tobacco
      • View All Heavy Industry & Manufacturing

      • Telecomm­unications

      • Carriers and Services
      • Mobile Entertainment
      • Networks
      • Peripherals
      • Telecommunications Equipment
      • Telecommunications Industry
      • VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)
      • Wireless Communications
      • View All Telecomm­unications

  • Lifestyle & Health
      • Consumer Products & Retail

      • Animals & Pets
      • Beers, Wines and Spirits
      • Beverages
      • Bridal Services
      • Cannabis
      • Cosmetics and Personal Care
      • Fashion
      • Food & Beverages
      • Furniture and Furnishings
      • Home Improvement
      • Household, Consumer & Cosmetics
      • Household Products
      • Jewelry
      • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
      • Office Products
      • Organic Food
      • Product Recalls
      • Restaurants
      • Retail
      • Supermarkets
      • Toys
      • View All Consumer Products & Retail

      • Entertain­ment & Media

      • Advertising
      • Art
      • Books
      • Entertainment
      • Film and Motion Picture
      • Magazines
      • Music
      • Publishing & Information Services
      • Radio & Podcast
      • Television
      • View All Entertain­ment & Media

      • Health

      • Biometrics
      • Biotechnology
      • Clinical Trials & Medical Discoveries
      • Dentistry
      • FDA Approval
      • Fitness/Wellness
      • Health Care & Hospitals
      • Health Insurance
      • Infection Control
      • International Medical Approval
      • Medical Equipment
      • Medical Pharmaceuticals
      • Mental Health
      • Pharmaceuticals
      • Supplementary Medicine
      • View All Health

      • Sports

      • General Sports
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Sporting Events
      • Sports Equipment & Accessories
      • View All Sports

      • Travel

      • Amusement Parks and Tourist Attractions
      • Gambling & Casinos
      • Hotels and Resorts
      • Leisure & Tourism
      • Outdoors, Camping & Hiking
      • Passenger Aviation
      • Travel Industry
      • View All Travel

  • Policy & Public Interest
      • Policy & Public Interest

      • Advocacy Group Opinion
      • Animal Welfare
      • Congressional & Presidential Campaigns
      • Corporate Social Responsibility
      • Domestic Policy
      • Economic News, Trends, Analysis
      • Education
      • Environmental
      • European Government
      • FDA Approval
      • Federal and State Legislation
      • Federal Executive Branch & Agency
      • Foreign Policy & International Affairs
      • Homeland Security
      • Labor & Union
      • Legal Issues
      • Natural Disasters
      • Not For Profit
      • Patent Law
      • Public Safety
      • Trade Policy
      • U.S. State Policy
      • View All Policy & Public Interest

  • People & Culture
      • People & Culture

      • Aboriginal, First Nations & Native American
      • African American
      • Asian American
      • Children
      • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
      • Hispanic
      • Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual
      • Men's Interest
      • People with Disabilities
      • Religion
      • Senior Citizens
      • Veterans
      • Women
      • View All People & Culture

  • Hamburger menu
  • Cision PRWeb provides efficient communication tools to continuously engage with target audiences across multiple online channels
  • Create a Free Account
    • ALL CONTACT INFO
    • Contact Us


      11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday

  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • News in Focus
    • Browse All News
    • Multimedia Gallery
  • Business & Money
    • Auto & Transportation
    • Business Technology
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Financial Services & Investing
    • General Business
  • Science & Tech
    • Consumer Technology
    • Energy & Natural Resources
    • Environ­ment
    • Heavy Industry & Manufacturing
    • Telecomm­unications
  • Lifestyle & Health
    • Consumer Products & Retail
    • Entertain­ment & Media
    • Health
    • Sports
    • Travel
  • Policy & Public Interest
  • People & Culture
    • People & Culture
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR
  • Send a Release
  • Sign up
  • Log in
  • Resources
  • RSS
  • GDPR

Worcester Polytechnic Institute Researchers Developing a Biosensor That Can Speed Diagnosis of Potentially Deadly Bacterial Infection
  • USA - English

The sensor, which detects the presence of C. diff bacteria, could be used in doctor's offices and nursing homes, speeding treatment and decreasing the severity of the disease


News provided by

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Dec 11, 2018, 14:30 ET

Share this article

Share toX

Share this article

Share toX

WPI chemical engineering professor Hong Susan Zhou, left, and PhD candidate Zhiru Zhou examine a prototype electrochemical biosensor that can quickly detect the potentially deadly C. diff bacteria.
WPI chemical engineering professor Hong Susan Zhou, left, and PhD candidate Zhiru Zhou examine a prototype electrochemical biosensor that can quickly detect the potentially deadly C. diff bacteria.

WORCESTER, Mass., Dec. 11, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) are developing a biosensor that doctors and nurses can use to quickly detect Clostridium difficile (C. diff), a dangerous and sometimes fatal gastrointestinal infection. The sensor is designed to be the heart of a handheld device that can be used onsite in doctor's offices and nursing homes, providing results in minutes instead of days, avoiding the need to send samples out to commercial labs, and making it possible to start treatment earlier, when it is likelier to be more successful.

Highly contagious, C. diff is the most common infectious cause of diarrhea in hospitalized patients. The bacteria also causes nausea, dehydration, weight loss, colitis, kidney failure, and an increased white blood cell count. The longer treatment is delayed, the sicker patients become and the harder the infection is to cure. C. diff infects more than 500,000 people each year in the United States, of whom more than 29,000 die within 30 days of diagnosis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is responsible for as much as $4.8 billion per year in health care costs. A major complication of antibiotic therapy, C. diff generally occurs in older adults who have received antibiotics in hospitals or long-term care facilities.

"C. diff is a very serious disease, especially for the elderly," said Hong Susan Zhou, associate professor of chemical engineering at WPI and principal investigator for the biosensor research program, which is funded by a $350,000 award from the National Science Foundation. "When people are in the hospital and receiving antibiotics, they are very easily infected and it's very dangerous. When people start having symptoms of diarrhea, it's not easy tell if it's C. diff or not. If they can be diagnosed in the early stages, then it's more easily treated."

C. diff is typically detected by culturing a stool sample, a test that has a high rate of false negatives, requires specialized equipment and expertise, and cannot be done at most points-of-care facilities. At present, no single commercially available test offers strong sensitivity and portability, as well as rapid turnaround time and low cost. Inexpensive point-of-care diagnostics for C. diff are needed to improve detection, therapy, and treatment cost, Zhou said. "Right now, it takes 24 to 48 hours to receive a C. diff diagnosis," she noted. "People can get much sicker in just that short period of time."

Starting in 2012, Zhou began looking for a better and faster way to detect C. diff. That research resulted in a microwave-size biosensor prototype, which she built and demonstrated in her lab in 2015. With the current grant, she is working with Yuxiang (Shawn) Liu, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at WPI and co-PI on the project, to shrink the device to make it portable, and to use nanostructures and new microfluidics techniques to make it more sensitive.

The miniaturized biosensor Zhou and Liu are developing uses electrochemical detection (ECD), an extremely selective and sensitive diagnostic technique, which will enable a C. diff infection to be diagnosed much earlier. The biosensor has an electrode with antibodies attached. When C. diff bacteria bind to the antibodies, they trigger an electrical change that signals the presence of an infection. This process takes just a few minutes, as compared to the one to two days needed for the traditional lab culture.

The 2015 prototype used gold nanoparticles, laid flat, and a traditional microfluidic platform made of PDMS, a silicon-based organic polymer. That prototype would have been difficult to scale up for mass production, Zhou said. The new device will use 3D gold nanostructures, which have more surface area for the antibodies to adhere to, making the biosensor more sensitive and allowing it to be much smaller than the original prototype.

Liu is developing a new microfluidic platform for the sensor that will enable the stool sample to flow more easily toward the electrode. He is replacing the traditional polymer with an acrylic and will use a laser to cut tiny channels into it. The new platform will be easier to fabricate and to integrate with the new electrode, which Liu also will help fabricate. The goal is to create a reusable handheld biosensor that can make a diagnosis with just a drop of stool, much less than is needed for current lab tests.

It will also be designed to be usable without any special training, making it possible for tests to be conducted on site. "For use in point-of-care facilities, it will be important for it to be easier and less expensive to use," said Liu.

The technology used in the biosensor can be adapted to test for other types of infectious bacteria, including salmonella, bacterial meningitis, and E. coli. It may even be able to check for cancer biomarkers, Zhou said.

The research team also includes three PhD students: Zanzan Zhu and Zhiru Zhou from Zhou's lab and Yundong Ren from Liu's lab. Hanping Feng, a professor at the University of Maryland, will supply the antibodies used in the study.

About Worcester Polytechnic Institute

WPI, a global leader in project-based learning, is a distinctive, top-tier technological university founded in 1865 on the principle that students learn most effectively by applying the theory learned in the classroom to the practice of solving real-world problems. Recognized by the National Academy of Engineering with the 2016 Bernard M. Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education, WPI's pioneering project-based curriculum engages undergraduates in solving important scientific, technological, and societal problems throughout their education and at more than 45 project centers around the world. WPI offers more than 50 bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs across 14 academic departments in science, engineering, technology, business, the social sciences, and the humanities and arts. Its faculty and students pursue groundbreaking research to meet ongoing challenges in health and biotechnology; robotics and the internet of things; advanced materials and manufacturing; cyber, data, and security systems; learning science; and more. http://www.wpi.edu

Media contact:
Jessica Messier
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Worcester, Massachusetts
508-831-5937; [email protected]

SOURCE Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Related Links

www.wpi.edu

Modal title

Contact PRWeb

  • 11AM ET Sunday – 8PM ET Friday
  • Contact Us

About PRWeb

  • About PRWeb
  • Partners
  • Partnership Programs
  • Editorial Guidelines
  • Resources

Why PRWeb

  • Why PRWeb
  • How It Works
  • Who Uses It
  • Pricing

Accounts

  • Create a Free Account
  • Log in
  • Contact Us

Do not sell or share my personal information:

  • Submit via [email protected] 
  • Call Privacy toll-free: 877-297-8921

Contact Cision

Products

About

My Services
  • All News Releases
  • Online Member Center
  • ProfNet
Cision Distribution Helpline
888-776-0942
  • Legal
  • Site Map
  • RSS
  • Cookie Settings
Copyright © 2025 Cision US Inc.