I-Corps: Translation Potential of Real-time Bacterial Detection Technology

The broader impact of this I-Corps project is the development of a food safety testing system that handles large volumes of samples to detect dangerous bacterial contamination. Each year in the United States alone, hundreds of thousands of people become ill from consuming contaminated food products, resulting in billions of dollars in medical costs and lost wages.

Current testing approaches rely on taking small samples from large production lots, which is both time-consuming and potentially unreliable. This new technology enables rapid screening of entire production batches, dramatically reducing both testing costs and time, while improving detection reliability. The system's affordability and simplicity make it particularly valuable for widespread deployment across the food supply chain - from farms to processing facilities to consumer-facing establishments.

By enabling comprehensive testing at the source, this technology could reduce foodborne illness outbreaks while helping food producers operate more efficiently and maintain product quality.

This I-Corps project utilizes experiential learning coupled with a first-hand investigation of the industry ecosystem to assess the translation potential of the technology. This solution is based on the development of a two-part food safety detection system that overcomes key limitations of current testing methods. The first component uses specially engineered polymer channels that can process large sample volumes and concentrate bacteria into small areas for analysis.

The second component employs advanced optical techniques to rapidly identify bacterial species without requiring additional chemicals or labels. The system can process and analyze entire production lots in minutes rather than hours, while providing more reliable results than traditional sampling methods. Laboratory testing has demonstrated the ability to selectively capture and identify harmful bacteria from complex samples with high accuracy.

The technology maintains sensitivity while eliminating complex sample preparation steps, making it practical for real-world deployment.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.