The POSEIDON project adopts a multidisciplinary approach involving key enabling technologies (KET) in photonics, aiming at the exploitation of the Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) phenomenon to develop a fully automated platform for fast optical detection of L. pneumophila pathogens.

SPR sensors provide an extremely sensitive and versatile tool for miniaturized label-free sensing platforms integrated into lab-on-chip systems for potential applications in environmental monitoring, biotechnology, medical diagnostics, drug screening, food safety and security.

Detection and investigation of viruses, bacteria and eukaryotic cells is nowadays becoming a rapidly growing field in SPR biosensing, but the detection was only achieved in laboratory settings. In this project an innovative sensing device architecture will be used to create a platform to yield reliable measurement readouts of legionella bacterial cells that would be driven and entrapped on a custom sensing surface specifically designed with opportune positive and negative controls.

The detection platform will be implemented as a prototype in which water and air samples are sequentially concentrated, injected into a microfluidic system, and delivered to the SPR sensor for analysis. The system will be designed to allow for its future integration in water distribution and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) for prevention of L. pneumophila outbreaks.

The POSEIDON project aims to address new solutions through several activities ranging from research to piloting. The following schematic overview of POSEIDON project, was depicted visualizing the different system components and the partners’ involvement in their development (see legend) and the connection in the workflow.