Rapid identification of pathogens responsible for necrotizing fasciitis on an integrated microfluidic system.

Necrotic fasciitis (NF) is a particularly aggressive and serious infection of the fascia that can penetrate into the musculature and internal organs, resulting in death if not treated promptly. In this work, an integrated microfluidic system composed of micropumps, microvalves, and micromixers was used to automate the detection of pathogens associated with NF. The entire molecular diagnostic process, including bacteria isolation, lysis, nucleic acid amplification and optical detection steps, was enacted on this developed system.

Vancomycin-resistant gene identification from live bacteria on an integrated microfluidic system by using low temperature lysis and loop-mediated isothermal amplification.

Vancomycin-resistant (VRE) is a kind of enterococci, which shows resistance toward antibiotics. It may last for a long period of time and meanwhile transmit the vancomycin-resistant gene () to other bacteria. In the United States alone, the resistant rate of to vancomycin increased from a mere 0.