Stanford researchers developed a new method to identify bacteria in fluids

Stanford News reported an innovative adaptation of the technology in an old inkjet printer plus AI-assisted imaging resulting in a faster, cheaper way to detect bacteria in blood, wastewater, and other fluids. The technology involves shining a laser on a drop of fluid, and the light reflecting can be used to identify bacteria in the sample positively. The new test can be done in minutes and, as a result, can allow faster diagnosis. The technology involves printing thousands of tiny dots of sample by modifying a printer to put tiny samples to paper using acoustic pulses. At that scale, the droplets are so small they may hold just a few dozen cells. The sample is infused with gold that attaches to bacteria if present, as a result drawing the laser light toward the bacteria and amplifying the signal some 1500 times its unenhanced strength. Machine learning is used to identify bacteria. @ https://news.stanford.edu/2023/03/02/new-way-identify-bacteria-fluids/