Clinical Spectroscopic Diagnostics

The new-founded research group at the Integrated Research and Treatment Center “Center for Sepsis Control and Care” at the University Hospital Jena in cooperation with the IPHT wants to develop a theragnostic tool based on optical spectroscopy for the culture-independent sepsis pathogen detection.

This involves:

• Elucidation of drug-target interactions in sepsis-associated infections.
• Elucidation of mechanisms of antibiotic resistance on a molecular level.
• Identification of marker bands for antibiotic susceptibility.
• Validation of the technique with classic biochemical and microbiological assays.
• Design of flow chip for capturing of single bacteria or small colonies from suspensions.

A selection of pathogens associated with sepsis will be investigated, e. g. bacteria from the genus staphylococcus as well as enterobacter, including resistant and susceptible strains. The interaction of these microbes with typical antibiotics in the context of calculated therapy, especially from the classes β-lactams, cephalosporins and fluoroquinolons, will be characterized by means of optical spectroscopy. Characteristic marker bands for the fast evaluation antibiotic susceptibility of the sepsis pathogens shall be identified.