NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY | ARTICLE
A magneto-DNA nanoparticle system for rapid detection and phenotyping of bacteria
- Nature Nanotechnology
- 8,
- 369–375
One of the most devastating experiences that an orthopaedic surgeon encounters is the infected implant. More importantly, the patient goes through extensive surgery that most of time is of inferior result compared to the first surgery. The socioeconomic cost of the infections in orthopaedics is tremendous. The annual cost of infected revisions to US hospitals is projected to exceed $1.62 billion by 2020.
Often times it is difficult to confirm the presence of bacteria in a wound just by inspecting the color of the fluid, the odor or the macroscopic appearance of the membranes on the implants. There is promising technology being developed that will give us the opportunity to detect an infection in less than 2 hours when currently a standard microbiology lab can give us an answer in 2-3 days and sometimes depending on the micro-organism in 14-21 days.
The magneto-DNA nanoparticle system provides an answer in less than 2 hours. The ideal test would have been similar to a pregnancy test that will give us an answer at the time of surgery. In that scenario orthopaedic surgeons will be able to manage periprosthetic infections more effectively, develop better algorithms and lower the cost of revision arthroplasty care from a financial and social perspective.
http://www.nature.com/nnano/journal/v8/n5/full/nnano.2013.70.html#f5
