There is growing interest in rapid microbial pre-
concentration methods to lower the detection limit of bacterial
pathogens of low abundance in samples. Here, we report an
integrated microfluidic PCR system that enables bacterial
cells of interest in samples to be concentrated prior to PCR.
It consists of two major compartments: a preconcentration
chamber for the immunomagnetic separation of bacterial cells,
and a PCR chamber for the DNA amplification of the concen-
trated cells. We demonstrate the feasibility of the system for
the detection of microbial pathogens by preconcentrating the
human pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7, and also ampli-
fying its DNA. The detection limit of E. coli O157:H7 in the
PCR system is 1 × 10 3 CFU (colony forming unit)/mL. On-
chip processing steps, including preconcentration and PCR
steps, take less than two hours. Our system can serve as a
rapid, specific, and quantitative platform for the detection of
microbial pathogens in samples of large volume.