This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop a portable, rapid and specific capillary channel based immuno-sensing system for food pathogens. The tests will be able to detect concentrations of <10 cfu/ml of various microorganisms (Salmonella, Listeria, Escherichia Coli) in less than 1 hour in contrast to current methods that typically require 24 to 48 hours for preliminary data to become available and typically 3-7 days for definitive results. The capability of the proposed instrument to achieve this significant leap forward in performance was demonstrated by the Phase I results. The Phase II objective is to further refine the instrument with the high performance, ease of use, and low per sample cost needed by the food processing industry.
The commercial application of this project will be in the areas of food safety and bio-defense. Microbial contamination of food products by pathogenic bacteria is a major concern of our society. Contaminated food is estimated to cause 76 million illnesses, 325,000 serious illnesses resulting in hospitalization, and 5,000 deaths in the United States each year. The economic impact of food-borne illnesses has been estimated as high as $10 billion annually. Recent events have also made it clear that the threat from pathogens intentionally introduced into the nation's food supply can be real, with significant economic implications.
