Rapid Point of Care Detection of Tuberculosis

Executive Summary

Tuberculosis (TB) remains one of the major causes of death from a single infectious agent worldwide, affecting both humans and livestock. Pulmonary TB can be currently diagnosed by various methods including chest radiography, sputum smear microscopy, nucleic acid amplification and cultivation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). However, all these techniques suffer from various issues such as high cost, long diagnosis times or complicated procedures. MSU researchers have recently developed a new technology for detection of TB from clinical samples (sputum, CSF, urine, etc.) that is rapid, inexpensive and can be used as a point-of-care test.

Description of the Technology

This invention involves contacting and heating the unprocessed clinical samples with designed magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) which bind to the TB pathogen (Mtb). The bound Mtb/MNP are separated by a simple magnet and viewed under a microscope. Proprietary software using an AI routine analyzes the images and determines the presence of Mtb with high sensitivity at low detection limits. The results have been compared to the Xpert MTB/RIF assay with excellent agreement.

Benefits