MECROBIO: Mechanochromic Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing

The main goal of this project proposal is the development of a high-throughput mechanochromic sensor for the rapid assessment of bacterial antibiotic susceptibility and its transfer to the clinical practice.

This biosensing platform is intended to become a key enabling technology allowing fast and inexpensive diagnostic of bacterial infections with multidetection capacity. Rapid and affordable antibiotic susceptibility testing is expected to accelerate the initiation of targeted antibiotic therapy thus improving clinical outcomes. Furthermore, this technology envisages a more accurate use of broad-spectrum antibiotics as a way to decrease the emergence of antimicrobial resistance among bacteria .

This proposal aims to transfer the nanomechanical antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) to the diagnostic practice through the use of novel mechanochromic sensors. Mechanochromic materials are able to change their color as a result of a mechanical stimulus, allowing sensitive detection with inexpensive colorimetric readout and high-throughput capacity.