PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15887787
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-02
Publication Date: 2018-06
Patent Classification: ["435", "032000"]

Abstract:
A system and method for antibiotic susceptibility testing efficiently determines whether bacteria are alive or have been killed by antibiotic treatment. The antibiotic susceptibility testing device includes at least one reservoir into which a bacteria solution is introduced and a microfluidic channel connected to the reservoir, wherein the cross-sectional size of the microfluidic channel is selected to be comparable to the size of the bacterium to be tested. Furthermore, the electrical resistance or voltage signal across the microchannel is monitored as bacteria swim into and out of the channel. Alternatively, a small population of bacteria can be immobilized in the microchannel. The resistance or voltage signal fluctuates when the bacteria are alive and moving in and out of the channel or wiggling on the microchannel walls. If the bacteria are dead, they have limited motility and the signal fluctuations are significantly smaller. By monitoring the signal fluctuations, the antibiotic susceptibility testing device can determine whether or not bacteria are alive, thus enabling antibiotic susceptibility testing of bacteria.

Claim (Index 7):
A method for antibiotic susceptibility testing comprising:\n flowing bacteria into a microchannel whereby the bacteria become trapped in the microchannel; measuring a first resistance through the microchannel after the bacteria become trapped in the microchannel and determining a first mean resistance through the microchannel; adding an antibiotic to the microchannel; waiting a predefined period of time; measuring a second resistance through the microchannel after the bacteria become trapped in the microchannel and determining a second mean resistance through the microchannel; comparing the first mean resistance to the second mean resistance; and determining that the bacteria are resistant to the antibiotic if the second mean resistance is greater than the first mean resistance.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 22.0
- Percentile: 88.0
- Lexical Diversity: 2.09302
- Patent Class: 435.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['15669069', '15223365', '13756872', '15582781', '09600398']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.5120301729537545
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5975087231696815
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.5205780279753472
- Mean Citation Score: 266.727724
- Max Citation Score: 541.812
- Similarity Product: 434.2551284666062

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test