Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance is a biomedical event, wherein an infectious microbe becomes non-responsive to the dosage of a particular antibiotic due to previous overuse or overexposure. Currently, agar plate disc diffusion is used as the gold standard for detecting antimicrobial resistance. The possibility of miniaturizing and speeding up detection techniques for antimicrobial resistance is investigated in this thesis. Microfabrication techniques were used in developing two droplet microfluidic systems interfaced with laser induced fluorescence detection. Microfluidic devices were manufactured with different droplet generating geometries using poly-dimethyl siloxane, soft lithography and hydrophobic surface treatment. The microfluidic devices were tested for droplet quality using LB broth with ampicillin. The droplet incubation experiments indicated the best device geometry for carrying out bacterial growth experiments in droplets. Both device geometries were suitable for detection of E. coli in droplets using green fluorescence protein signal. Only one droplet generation geometry was conducive for carrying out bacterial detection and growth experiments in droplets. These results identify a suitable droplet generation layout as part of a platform for carrying out antimicrobial susceptibility tests on E. coli.
Degree
MS
College and Department
Computational, Mathematical, and Physical Sciences; Chemistry and Biochemistry
Rights
https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/
BYU ScholarsArchive Citation
Peiris, Oshira, "Detection of the Presence and Growth of E. coli Bacteria in a Droplet-Based Microfluidic System using Laser Induced Fluorescence" (2026). Theses and Dissertations. 11219.
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/11219
Date Submitted
2026-04-21
Document Type
Thesis
Permanent Link
https://arks.lib.byu.edu/ark:/34234/q2202951ca
Keywords
droplet microfluidics, E.coli, green fluorescent protein, fluorescence detection, antimicrobial susceptibility
Language
english