Compositions and methods for disease diagnosis using single cell analysis
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Publication Number
US-9851345-B1
Publication Date
2017-12-26
Expiration Date
Abstract
Certain embodiments of the invention are directed to evaluating and identifying cells by recording and interpreting a time-dependent signal produced by unique cell respiration and permeability attributes of isolated viable cells.
Core Innovation
The invention describes detecting and characterizing microbes using reporter optical emissions represented as time-dependent waveforms from sub-nanoliter droplets. Waveform patterns are used to identify microbes, while differences between waveforms associated with antimicrobial-treated and control portions indicate antimicrobial susceptibility. The partial content also describes optional comparison with a stored waveform library and the use of redox-sensitive reporters such as resazurin.
The supplied partial content does not include the patent's background section, so the problem being solved is not explicitly described there. The summary states that small-volume confinement supports rapid detection and reports susceptibility turnaround of under 4–6 hours. It also describes the method as supporting single-cell disease diagnosis and phenotypic drug-susceptibility testing.
Claims Coverage
The relevant claims identify one independent claim directed to detecting and characterizing microbes and determining antimicrobial susceptibility using optical-emission waveforms, comprising three inventive features.
Microbe characterization using optical-emission waveforms
The claim uses time-dependent optical emissions from a viability reporter to construct droplet waveforms and identify microbes in a sample.
Antimicrobial susceptibility determination by waveform comparison
The claim determines susceptibility by comparing waveforms associated with antimicrobial-treated and control portions; differences indicate susceptibility to the antimicrobial.
Sub-nanoliter droplet arrays
The claim specifies two-dimensional arrays of sub-nanoliter droplets, with a portion containing one microbe or one natural microbe aggregate per droplet.
The independent claim covers microbial identification through reporter-emission waveforms and susceptibility assessment through comparison of treated and control waveform patterns in sub-nanoliter droplets.
Stated Advantages
Small-volume confinement supports rapid detection, with reported antimicrobial susceptibility turnaround of under 4–6 hours.
Documented Applications
Single-cell disease diagnosis and phenotypic drug-susceptibility testing of microbes.
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