Defense Date

7-5-2023

Graduation Date

Summer 8-5-2023

Availability

Immediate Access

Submission Type

thesis

Degree Name

MS

Department

Biomedical Engineering

School

Rangos School of Health Sciences

Committee Chair

John A Viator

Committee Member

Zane Frund

Committee Member

Melikhan Tanyeri

Keywords

Photacoustics, Photoacoustic Flow Cytometry, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacterial Identification, Antibiotic Resistance, Bacteriophage, Optical Tag, Emerging Diagnostics, Flow Chambers

Abstract

The number of daily bacterial infections is climbing and the CDC explains that this is due to the antibiotic-resistant threat in the United States. Finding a faster way of bacterial identification is necessary as it currently takes 1-4 days for a medical lab to culture and identify bacteria. Photoacoustic flow cytometry (PAFC) can be used as an alternative method resulting in swift identification within an hour (Edgar, 2019). Pseudomonas aeruginosa, cell line PA01, will be coated in up to a few hundred red dyed phages making it detectible by the photoacoustic flow cytometry system. Bacteriophages (phages) are viruses that target and infect its host bacteria. Once phage recognizes PA01 and injects its viral genome, it rapidly replicates until the final stage of the lytic cycle is reached and cell lysis occurs. Contingent that tagged cells are tested before lysing then detections should occur if Pseudomonas aeruginosa is present. This research may provide evidence of a more efficient method to identify bacteria in the medical setting within under an hour. Faster bacterial identification could aid in the overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics which plays a large role in the antibiotic-resistance threat.

Language

English

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