Antifungal susceptibility testing of Aspergillus niger on silicon microwells by intensity-based reflectometric interference spectroscopy.

Antifungal susceptibility testing of Aspergillus niger on silicon microwells by intensity-based reflectometric interference spectroscopy.

ACS Infect Dis. 2020 Sep 15;:

Authors: Heuer C, Leonard H, Nitzan N, Lavy-Alperovitch A, Massad-Ivanir N, Scheper T, Segal E

Abstract
There is a demonstrated and paramount need for rapid, reliable infectious disease diagnostics, particularly those for invasive fungal infections. Current clinical determinations for an appropriate antifungal therapy can take up to 3 days using current antifungal susceptibility testing methods – a time-to-readout that can prove detrimental for immunocompromised patients and promote the spread of antifungal resistant pathogens. Herein, we demonstrate the application of intensity-based reflectometric interference spectroscopic measurements (termed iPRISM) on microstructured silicon sensors for use as a rapid, phenotypic antifungal susceptibility test. This diagnostic platform optically tracks morphological changes of fungi corresponding to conidia growth and hyphal colonization at a solid-liquid interface in real-time. Using Aspergillus niger as a model fungal pathogen, we can determine the minimal inhibitory concentration of clinically-relevant antifungals within 12 hours. This assay allows for expedited detection of fungal growth and provides a label-free alternative to broth microdilution and agar diffusion methods, with the potential to be used for point-of-care diagnostics.

PMID: 32930571 [PubMed – as supplied by publisher]

Source: Industry