The deadly Legionella bacteria can contaminate artificial water systems. FABTECH’s team participated in the development of a sample concentration and detection system using super paramagnetic nano-beads functionalised by specific antibodies as biomarkers to catch Legionella bacteria. A 1 litre water sample is first filtered, the bacteria is automatically suspended in a small amount of buffer fluid in which functionalized magnetic beads are used to label the Legionella bacteria. A magnetic field is used to separate the marked pathogen from the rest. The team of FABTECH developed the automated sample preparation device, sensor electronics, microcontroller based control electronics.
