Advances in Optical Detection of Human-Associated Pathogenic Bacteria

Abstract

Bacterial infection is a global burden that results in numerous hospital visits and deaths annually. The rise of multi-drug resistant bacteria has dramatically increased this burden. Therefore, there is a clinical need to detect and identify bacteria rapidly and accurately in their native state or a culture-free environment. Current diagnostic techniques lack speed and effectiveness in detecting bacteria that are culture-negative, as well as options for in vivo detection. The optical detection of bacteria offers the potential to overcome these obstacles by providing various platforms that can detect bacteria rapidly, with minimum sample preparation, and, in some cases, culture-free directly from patient fluids or even in vivo. These modalities include infrared, Raman, and fluorescence spectroscopy, along with optical coherence tomography, interference, polarization, and laser speckle. However, these techniques are not without their own set of limitations. This review summarizes the strengths and weaknesses of utilizing each of these optical tools for rapid bacteria detection and identification.

Optical multi-channel interrogation instrument for bacterial colony characterization

“…One alternative method of characterizing bacterial colonies is elastic light-scattering (ELS) technology, which interrogates the whole 3-D volume of a colony using a collimated and coherent light source and projects the interference patterns into 2-D scattering images [ 1 ]. As the unique scatter patterns are generated depending on the colony structure, classification of a bacterial sample has been successfully performed for different genera, species, and some level of strains in different conditions [ 2 ]. For its simple and rapid detection methods, the optical technique has gained interest and attention, which have been expressed in various studies where similar approaches were applied for bacterial colony characterization [ 3 – 6 ].…”

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for bioanalysis and diagnosis

“…with antibiotic-resistant bacteria) using culture-free methods, directly from patient fluids or even in vivo. 10 SERS also benefits from recent efforts to develop tandem microfluidic devices in order to improve in situ bioanalysis with direct clinical applicability. 7 SERS is regarded as an ultrasensitive technique because it can achieve single-molecule (SM) detection.…”

Reducing Biofilm Infections in Burn Patients’ Wounds and Biofilms on Surfaces in Hospitals, Medical Facilities and Medical Equipment to Improve Burn Care: A Systematic Review

“…The lengthy process of culturing biofilm organisms may be bypassed with optical methods. A review assessed multiple methods of optical identification of bacteria including infrared spectroscopy, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet resonance, Raman spectroscopy, surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, and optical coherence tomography and concluded that Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy provides superior use of data particularly linked to large databases of bacterial characteristics [ 53 ].…”