An integrated microfluidic system for rapid detection and typing of live bacteria from human joint fluidic samples

Periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a devastating complication after arthroplasty. Two-stage reimplantation procedure is the most common practice to prevent the reoccurrence of PJI. However, it should be assisted by a rapid, accurate and comprehensive bacteria detection tool. In this study, a new integrated microfluidic system capable of performing sample pre-treatment, a nanogold detection to provide live bacteria information (30 minutes) and a PCR reaction (further 40 minutes) to distinguished bacteria types for antibiotic treatment automatically without human intervention is proposed. The experimental results demonstrated that this powerful tool can serve as a base for clinical decision-making in the near future.