Low-cost molecular imprinted polymer sensor array for microbial contamination detection

Overview

This solution offers a low-cost biosensing approach for detecting microbial contamination in aqueous solutions using molecular imprinted polymer (MIP) sensor arrays. MIPs are synthetic polymers engineered with cavities that are complementary to target microorganisms, enabling selective binding of whole cells directly from raw samples without the need for culturing or extensive sample preparation. By imprinting polymers with specific pathogenic bacteria, yeasts, and molds, the platform can be tailored to detect targeted microbes relevant to water quality, food safety, and environmental monitoring. The result is a fast and inexpensive detection method suited for applications where rapid screening of microbial contamination is critical.

Technical specifications

Core technology:

• Molecular imprinted polymers designed to bind whole-cell microorganisms through shape and functional group complementarity
• Non-imprinted polymers (NIPs) are pre-copolymerized using monomers with specific functional groups, then imprinted with relevant pathogenic microbes from water
• A curing step finalizes the MIP structure after template implantation
• The MIP array is integrated with a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing platform to detect binding events for each targeted microbe

Key advantages:

• Enables direct whole-cell detection in raw samples, eliminating culturing steps
• Low-cost and fast compared to conventional microbiological assays
• Customizable for different target organisms, including bacteria, yeasts, and molds
• Compatible with established SPR readout instrumentation

Technology readiness level

The underlying MIP binding performance for whole-cell organisms has been demonstrated with various pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Future validation will involve selecting functional-group-containing monomers, generating NIPs, imprinting them with relevant waterborne pathogens, and attaching the resulting MIPs to an SPR sensing platform to confirm binding event detection. The technology is at an early-to-mid stage of development, with laboratory validation of the integrated MIP-SPR platform as the next milestone toward practical deployment.