Work

Detection of strep throat causing bacterium directly from medical swabs by touch spray-mass spectrometry

Year: 2014

Type: article

Abstract: Strep throat causing Streptococcus pyogenes was detected in vitro and in simulated clinical samples by performing touch spray ionization-mass spectrometry. MS analysis took only seconds to reveal characteristic bacterial and human lipids. Medical swabs were used as the substrate for ambient ionization. This work constitutes the initial step in developing a non-invasive MS-based test for clinical diagnosis of strep throat. It is limited to the single species, S. pyogenes, which is responsible for the vast majority of cases. The method is complementary to and, with further testing, a potential alternative to current methods of point-of-care detection of S. pyogenes.

Source: The Analyst

DOI: 10.1039/c4an00959b

Authors: Alan K. Jarmusch, Valentina Pirro, Kevin S. Kerian, R. Graham Cooks

Institutions: Purdue University West Lafayette, University of Turin

Language: English

Topic: Mass Spectrometry Techniques and Applications

Subfield: Spectroscopy

Field: Chemistry

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering