(103h) Electrophysiology of Borrelia Burgdorferi

Laboratory tests for active and previous infections with Borrelia burgdorferi have been known to follow a two-test approach of combining enzyme immunoassay(EIA) or immunofluorecesnt assay (IFA) with Western immunoblot. Advances in disease detection techniques have also introduced Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) with known limitations. Apart from the fact that culturing Borrelia burgdorferi may require weeks, immunoassays for antigen detection are not as sensitive as expected. Since DNA testing could not differentiate live and dead cells and the possibility of laboratory contamination with amplified DNA, which poses a risk of false-positive results, is almost inevitable, PCR does not prove useful for the detection of Lyme disease. Dielectrophoresis, a method that manipulates cells in non-uniform electric field, has been proposed here as a potential substitute for serology and PCR. This present work seeks to obtain the electrical properties of Borrelia burgdorferi by fitting cross-over-conductivity data using a three-shell cell model.