TECHNOLOGY LICENSING OPPORTUNITY: Multidimensional Mass Fingerprinting for Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (MultiScan-AR)

MultiScan-AR from Los Alamos National Laboratory turns a routine mass spectrometry run into a high-resolution portrait of a microbe and its defenses, giving care teams the identity of a pathogen and its antibiotic-resistance profile in minutes to hours rather than the better part of a day. The method works with instruments that clinics and field laboratories already operate, from benchtop analyzers to portable units, so its advanced scanning technique and analysis pipeline add new diagnostic power without demanding an entirely new hardware footprint. For any organization racing to slow the spread of drug-resistant infections, the payoff is faster, more confident treatment decisions and a meaningful edge in patient care and public health.

Overview

The Multidimensional Mass Fingerprinting for Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria approach begins by capturing bacteria or fungi from a sample onto a collection material, then breaking those cells open to release their internal parts. The released components are analyzed by mass spectrometry using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization, a technique that gently and reproducibly converts molecules into measurable ions. Rather than take a single snapshot, MultiScan-AR applies a multidimensional scan that collects fragmentation data across the entire mass range and in both positive and negative charge modes, yielding far richer detail than a standard fingerprint. A dedicated data pipeline then organizes and annotates that complex output into a multidimensional mass fingerprint, allowing the system to identify the organism and flag the subtle molecular changes that signal antibiotic resistance.

Technology Description

MultiScan-AR is built around a multidimensional tandem mass spectrometry technique that interrogates lysed microbial samples with a level of granularity beyond conventional strain-typing instruments. Antibiotic resistance frequently arises from specific modifications to a cell's machinery, whether inside the cell...