Bumping Blood-borne Bacteria for Brisk Bedside Diagnosis – An Adventure in Applied Microfluidics

David Watson is an unparalleled genius working as a research associate within the MISEC group.
This talk looks at the design and fabrication of a microfluidic device to be used for the rapid assessment of bacterial response to antibiotics within the blood. The aim of the device is to decrease the time taken to analyse bacteria from blood samples from a couple of days to a couple of hours. Rapid analysis of antibiotic therapy means appropriate treatment can be administered much more promptly than before. Working under the supervision of Dr. Helen Bridle and in conjunction with Dr. Till Bachmann of the Division of Pathway Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, this presentation shows the early stages of device development, focussing on a microfluidic particle separation theory known as 'deterministic lateral displacement' (DLD).