  A fundamental step in the race to design a rapid diagnostic test for
antimicrobial resistance is the separation of bacteria from their matrix. Many
recent studies have been focused on the development of systems capable of
separating and capturing bacteria from different liquid environments. Herein,
we introduce a new approach to this issue by using the natural bacteria
tendency to accumulate at naturally-occurring interfaces, such as liquid-gas
and liquid-solid interfaces, where also organic molecules like lipids,
proteins, and polysaccharides accumulate. This bacterial behavior leads to the
formation of a superficial layer close to the interface rich in bacteria, from
which it is possible to capture a consistent amount of bacteria by means of
surfaces with high chemical affinity to the outer bacteria surface. This paper
demonstrates how to capture bacteria from contaminated urine samples, by means
of commercial microscope slides coated with positively charged biomolecules ,
without recurring to bacterial culture. Moreover, this approach is an easy,
quick and economical method to concentrate living bacteria in a well-defined
position onto a microscope slide, thus making them easily available for further
diagnostic investigations.
