Fig 1.
Summary of experimental design and imaging setup.
Illustration of experimental design to generate serial dilutions and of different application methods (a). Schematic of the imaging set up used for capturing images of the cultured plates using a mobile phone (b).
Fig 2.
Growth of E.coli on MacConkey agar delivered as per experimental design.
Growth of cultured E.coli on MacConkey agar applied using various methods i.e. top streak, bottom streak and bottom drop and over serial dilutions (a). Comparison of CFU/ml obtained from different application methods and using different quantification methods. CFU/ml was significantly different (p<0.1) between all dilutions for both the quantification methods as well as for all methods of application. CFU/ml calculated manually and by OpenCFU were not significantly different (p>0.1).
Fig 3.
Membrane based culture delivery and corresponding growth of E. coli at different temperatures in MacConkey agar.
Schematic of the membrane-based delivery apparatus (a). Growth of cultured E. coli on MacConkey agar at 37℃ for 16 hours and at 25℃ for 30 hours with the sample delivered using the membrane (b). Comparison of CFU obtained manually for both temperature conditions. CFU was significantly different (p<0.1) between all dilutions in which colonies could be counted for both the conditions except between 1:105 and 1:106 at 25℃ (p = 0.5). CFU calculated for both conditions were not significantly different in any dilution (p>0.1).
Table 1.
Comparison between the novel home based culture method, traditional microbial cultures and urine dipstick.
Fig 4.
Flowchart of putative home usage of the membrane-based delivery system.
A representative flow chart of the interaction between the user and the physician with the membrane-based delivery system aiding the diagnosis and intervention process.