Stencil-Printed Multisensor Device for Electrochemical Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing of Bacteria

• Grant number: 25/07486-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: November 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry - Analytical Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Renato Sousa Lima
• Grantee: Bruna Bragantin
• Supervisor: Carlos D Garcia
• Host Institution: Centro Nacional de Pesquisa em Energia e Materiais (CNPEM). Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação (Brasil). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Clemson University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 23/15263-9 - Electrochemical chips with high testing capacity for the diagnosis of head and neck cancer metastasis, BP.MS

Abstract

The urgent need for rapid, accessible, and accurate methods for antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) in bacteria drives this project. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest global public health challenges, driven by mechanisms such as intrinsic resistance, acquired resistance, genetic changes. This process is part of the natural evolutionary adaptation of microorganisms. Escherichia coli (E. coli) is among the bacteria most associated with antibiotic resistance, leading to difficult-to-treat infections and increased mortality. Therefore, developing an efficient method for detecting antimicrobial resistance is essential to enable effective control and mitigation strategies, ensuring the therapeutic efficacy of available antibiotics. Several techniques are currently available for antimicrobial susceptibility testing, including Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion, broth microdilution, agar dilution, and PCR. However, these methods are expensive, complex, and time-consuming. To address this drawback, we propose a novel detection method based on electrochemiluminescence (ECL), a process in which species generated at electrodes undergo electron-transfer reactions to form excited states that emit light upon returning to the ground state. This method offers advantages such as low background interference, a simple experimental setup, and rapid analysis. By combining these advantages with the development of a new stencil-printed multisensor device, it will be possible to achieve a low-cost, simple, and scalable method for electrode fabrication, making it suitable for large-scale production of electrochemical sensors. This C-based multisensory aims to be a compact device through an eco-friendly and low-cost approach. With this device, it will be possible to detect the presence of bacteria in the reaction, as they convert [Fe(CN)6]3- to [Fe(CN)6]4-, which then interacts with [Ru(bpy)3]3+, decreasing the light intensity. This analysis will enable the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) in AST.