Sixth Wave Innovations Inc. recently announced that its patent-pending Accelerated Molecularly Imprinted Polymer (AMIPs™) technology has expanded its library of detectable pathogens, which already includes Escherichia coli, to encompass Salmonella, Listeria monocytgenes, and Sarcina.

To accomplish this, Sixth Wave integrated new bacteria-imprinted biosensor components into a prototype microfluidic device. Preliminary selectivity data shows promising results that enable quick, onsite multiplex testing capabilities—meaning users would be able to simultaneously detect multiple pathogens. The advancement allows Sixth Wave to commercialize a set of rapid diagnostic tools for food safety testing.

One of the largest industry obstacles to food safety is the exorbitant cost of microbial testing equipment and skilled labor. The most common testing techniques include chromatography and spectroscopy for small molecule and heavy metals testing, and polymerase chain reaction and immunoassay for pathogen detection.

However, Sixth Wave’s AMIPs™ testing platform offers food producers a fast, reliable, and inexpensive way to increase testing frequency and ensure the quality of food products. The nearly instant testing time, ranging from seconds to approximately five minutes, is much faster than the weeklong turnaround of current methods. Such rapid testing times can reduce facility downtime and allow for more frequent testing. Contaminated equipment can be quickly identified and cleaned, resulting in smaller batches of tainted products that can be easily isolated before leaving the facility. Additionally, the testing can be conducted onsite at a fraction of the cost of currently used certified lab testing.

In combination with the AMIPs™ rapid detection platform, Sixth Wave also developed its Pathogenic Amines Detection System (PADS™). PADS™ is a sensing technology for the detection of biomarkers associated with food spoilage. The prototype food sensor can be easily integrated into individually packaged retail meat products and works with a suite of Sixth Wave products to help food producers monitor the safety of their product throughout the production process.

The AMIPs™ and PADS™ technologies address critical operational pain points in the food production sector and give consumers confidence in the safety of the products they are buying.

Sixth Wave: www.sixthwave.com