Response for airborne Pathogen On-chip Diagnostics

Objective

Hospital air is rarely as clean as it appears. In intensive care units, operating theatres, and patient wards, airborne pathogens such as Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Acinetobacter baumannii persist as silent, mobile threats, exacerbating the burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and hospital-acquired infections. Current air-management strategies—ventilation, HEPA filtration, UV-C sterilisation, and negative-pressure rooms—reduce particle loads but cannot confirm the presence of viable pathogens. Fluorescence-based particle counters provide only generic biological activity, while culture and molecular diagnostics are too slow, infrastructure-dependent, and unsuitable for real-time intervention. This blind spot leaves healthcare settings unprepared to respond effectively to airborne outbreaks. RESPOND project addresses this gap by developing an integrated, microfluidic platform combining plasmonic-enhanced bacterial lysis, isothermal nucleic acid amplification, and photoelectrochemical (PEC) biosensing. Module 1, engineered plasmonic nanostructures (gold nanostars, silver nanocubes) under LED illumination will achieve rapid, reagent-free lysis of bacteria, preserving nucleic acids for downstream amplification. Module 2, solid-phase recombinase polymerase amplification will be coupled with wavelength-selective photosensitisers for PEC detection, enabling label-free, light-controlled readouts without bulky optics. Module 3 will integrate both units into a continuous-flow microfluidic chip, validated with airborne MRSA and A. baumannii under clinically relevant conditions. Scientifically, RESPOND goes beyond state-of-the-art by embedding reagent-free lysis and optics-free PEC sensing in a chip, enabling rapid, species-specific airborne pathogen detection (<60 minutes, LOD ≈10copies/µL, cost per-chip <€50). Societally, RESPOND enhances hospital resilience against AMR outbreaks, supports real-time infection control, scalable applications in healthcare.