A Point-of-Care Detection Platform for Foodborne Pathogenic Bacteria by Integration of Smartphone and the Structural Color of Photonic Microsphere

A smartphone-based sensitive, rapid, label-free and high-throughput array detection platform for foodborne pathogens was established. A target bacterial capture platform was constructed on aptamer-modified silicon dioxide photonic microspheres (SPM), and bacteria quantification was performed based on SPM structural color change. Gold nanoparticles and silver staining could enhance the signal/noise ratio of the detection platform. The smartphone-based photonic microsphere platform showed a wide linear detection range of 102~108 CFU/mL with a low limit of detection (LOD) of 68 CFU/mL and high specificity for Escherichia coli O157:H7. Moreover, the recovery rates of the detection method were measured in the range of 98.50~108.01% in the milk, pork and purified water samples, comparable with the classic plate counting method. Such smartphone-based array platform for point-of-care detection of bacteria did not require complex sample pretreatment, easily manipulate. Rapid bacterial detection shows great application potential in the fields of food safety, environmental monitoring and disease diagnosis.