Abstract
We demonstrate an integrated micro-optofluidic platform for real-time, continuous detection and quantification of airborne microorganisms. Measurements of the fluorescence and light scattering from single particles in a microfluidic channel are used to determine the total particle number concentration and the microorganism number concentration in real-time. The system performance is examined by evaluating standard particle measurements with various sample flow rates and the ratios of fluorescent to non-fluorescent particles. To apply this method to real-time detection of airborne microorganisms, airborne Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus epidermidis cells were introduced into the micro-optofluidic platform via bioaerosol generation, and a liquid-type particle collection setup was used. We demonstrate successful discrimination of SYTO82-dyed fluorescent bacterial cells from other residue particles in a continuous and real-time manner. In comparison with traditional microscopy cell counting and colony culture methods, this micro-optofluidic platform is not only more accurate in terms of the detection efficiency for airborne microorganisms but it also provides additional information on the total particle number concentration.
Highlights
We demonstrate an integrated micro-optofluidic platform for real-time, continuous detection and quantification of airborne microorganisms
Detection and enumeration of airborne microorganisms has been accomplished using techniques based on polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), which are highly sensitive and quantitative techniques[17,18,19,20,21]
Additional pretreatment processes, and elaborate sample handling by well-trained operators in a clean environment are required[22]. These PCR and ELISA techniques have been applied to microfluidic chips to simplify the treatment processes,[23,24,25] most such microfluidic systems have been developed as disposable chips for point-of-care diagnosis of target microorganisms, which often leads to a limited number of samples or poor accuracy or rates of detection[26]
Summary
We demonstrate an integrated micro-optofluidic platform for real-time, continuous detection and quantification of airborne microorganisms. The system performance is examined by evaluating standard particle measurements with various sample flow rates and the ratios of fluorescent to non-fluorescent particles To apply this method to real-time detection of airborne microorganisms, airborne Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus epidermidis cells were introduced into the micro-optofluidic platform via bioaerosol generation, and a liquid-type particle collection setup was used. Additional pretreatment processes (such as particle condensation/purification), and elaborate sample handling by well-trained operators in a clean environment are required[22] These PCR and ELISA techniques have been applied to microfluidic chips to simplify the treatment processes,[23,24,25] most such microfluidic systems have been developed as disposable chips for point-of-care diagnosis of target microorganisms, which often leads to a limited number of samples or poor accuracy or rates of detection[26]
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