Patent ID: 7435579

Claim:
A biosensor for concentrating and detecting living microorganisms in a macroscopic sample in a minimal time, comprising: a substrate; a detection chamber disposed on said substrate and defining a volume between 1 pico-liter and 1 micro-liter, said detection chamber adapted to confine a composition containing microorganisms; specimen concentration means connected to said detection chamber for rapidly concentrating said microorganisms in said detection chamber, said specimen concentration means including a channel structure and a retention device at said detection chamber for capturing said microorganisms from a sample stream flowing in said channel structure, said channel structure including a large inflow groove or trench, a substantially smaller channel extending to said detection chamber, and an inlet section between said inflow groove or trench and said smaller channel, said inlet section being of substantially smaller flow cross-section than said inflow groove or trench and substantially larger flow cross-section than said smaller channel; a heater operatively connected to said substrate to heat said composition in said detection chamber; and electrodes mounted on said substrate in communication with said detection chamber to identify AC impedance changes within said detection chamber from bacterial metabolism of said microorganisms of said composition over time.