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Detecting bacterial infestation fast, contactless, and free of markers

05.01.2023

With a multimodal microscope, the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. (LZH) and three partners in the joint project PriMe want to make it possible to detect bacterial infestation using fast, marker-free, and contactless imaging. This could significantly accelerate the characterization and classification of bio-films - which is interesting for research and the clinical environment and diagnostics.

Deciphering the composition of biofilms currently takes at least a day - an enormously long period for the clinical setting in which biofilms can be life-threatening.

Image: A woman in a white coat with blue gloves sits at a large microscope; Copyright: LZH

In the joint project PriMe, the LZH and its partners want to make it possible to detect bacteria fast and contact-less with a microscope.

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Image: Petri dish with a red agar floor; Copyright: Messe Düsseldorf
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The PriMe partners now want to combine multiphoton microscopy and metabolic imaging to si-nificantly speed up the process. To this end, they are developing a novel laser beam source with spectral properties specifically adapted to the application.

With this laser source, LZH and Becker & Hickl GmbH want to detect metabolic products such as the coenzymes NADH, FAD, and additionally the amino acid tryptophan. The latter is a central component of proteins and peptides. The combined values should then make it possible to determine which bacteria are present in the biofilm. The project goal is to develop a demon-strator with which clinical material can be examined.

The basis for the demonstrator will be an innovative, multi-modal ultrashort pulse (USP) fiber laser system, which the LZH is developing together with VALO Innovations GmbH and TEM Messtechnik GmbH. It will be optimally adapted to the needs of multiphoton microscopy and extended fluorescence lifetime measurement. With the new laser source, the scientists aim to gain fundamentally new insights into bacterial communities and en-vironmental influences.

They also want to lay the foundation for a new diagnostic proce-dure that could significantly simplify the treatment of bacterial infections.

MEDICA-tradefair.com; Source: Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V.
More about the Laser Zentrum Hannover e.V. at: www.lzh.de

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