Towards enhanced selection of antibiotics in a hospital laboratory development of a rapid electrochemical-based antimicrobial sensitivity test for Urinary Tract Infections

Tools

Ralston, Heather and Butterworth, Adrian and Clark, Ben and Katsafadou, Maria and Vezza, Vincent and Campbell, Tyla and Malecha, Michael and Murphy, Michael E. and Poojary, Aruna and Winter, Amanda and Price, David and Marrs, Emma and Longmuir, Alistair and Hannah, Stuart and Hoskisson, Paul A. and Corrigan, Damion K. (2026) Towards enhanced selection of antibiotics in a hospital laboratory development of a rapid electrochemical-based antimicrobial sensitivity test for Urinary Tract Infections. ACS Sensors, 11 (2). pp. 1041-1049. ISSN 2379-3694 (https://doi.org/10.1021/acssensors.5c02725)

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Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance poses a major global health threat, often driven by empirical antibiotic use due to the relatively slow (24–72 h) diagnostic pathway for urinary tract infections (UTIs). Due to their low cost and ease of multiplexing, electrochemical biosensors offer a promising alternative. Herein, we report on the Microplate Dx RapidPlate platform, a rapid electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)-based approach for accelerated antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) directly from urine samples, without pre-treatment. This report charts the evolution of the core EIS-based AST measurement from a laboratory prototype into a fully realized Alpha prototype platform with an accompanying 32-channel electrochemical cartridge designed specifically for interrogation of urine samples. A total of 89 clinically derived urine samples were evaluated at three clinical sites (U.K. and India), with results compared against standard methods (VITEK 2 and disk diffusion). The impedance-based RapidPlate system detected bacterial growth within 50 min and provided susceptibility profiles by 85 min, with 95% concordance to reference tests. Consistent performance was demonstrated across diverse clinical settings and organisms, including Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The RapidPlate AST system has demonstrated great potential as a cost-effective, point-of-care tool for rapid AST, supporting and improving UTI management and antimicrobial stewardship.

ORCID iDs

Ralston, Heather, Butterworth, Adrian, Clark, Ben, Katsafadou, Maria, Vezza, Vincent, Campbell, Tyla, Malecha, Michael, Murphy, Michael E., Poojary, Aruna, Winter, Amanda, Price, David, Marrs, Emma, Longmuir, Alistair, Hannah, Stuart, Hoskisson, Paul A. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4332-1640 and Corrigan, Damion K. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4647-7483;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)