A Low-Cost, 3D-Printed Biosensor for Rapid Detection of Escherichia coli

Detection of bacterial pathogens is significant in the fields of food safety, medicine, public health, etc. If bacterial pathogens are not treated promptly, antimicrobial resistance is possible and can lead to morbidity and mortality. Current bacterial detection methodologies rely on laboratory-based techniques that pose limitations such as long turnaround detection times, expensive costs, inadequate accuracy, and required trained specialists. Here, we describe a cost-effective and portable 3D-printed electrochemical biosensor that facilitates rapid detection of certain Escherichia coli (E. coli) strains (DH5, BL21, TOP10, and JM109) within 15 minutes using 500 L of sample and costs $2.50 per test. The sensor displayed an excellent limit of detection (LOD) of 53 cfu, limit of quantification (LOQ) of 270 cfu, and showed cross-reactivity with strains BL21 and JM109 due to shared epitopes. This advantageous diagnostic device is a potential candidate for high-frequency testing at point of care as well as applicable to various fields where pathogen detection is of interest.