Development of a Point-of-Care Diagnostic Device for Detection of Early Stage Neonatal Sepsis

The team proposes to develop a highly sensitive Point-of-Care bacteria detection kit from small amounts of blood samples (< 1 ml) to identify pathogen in blood. This technique will be used primarily to detect early stage sepsis for neonates where extremely low amounts of bacteria (10-100 per ml) have to be detected. For this purpose, the team will use a novel format of camelid antibody fragments that have a simple structure, are stable and specially engineered to have a high specificity, affinity and avidity. Pathogen specific antibodies will be generated that will amplify the signal that can be picked up by electronic instrumentation. This will identify the bacteria instantly so that antibiotic therapy can be started.