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Rapid and label‐free detection and assessment of bacteria by terahertz time‐domain spectroscopy
Author(s) -
Yang Xiang,
Wei Dongshan,
Yan Shihan,
Liu Yueping,
Yu Shu,
Zhang Mingkun,
Yang Zhongbo,
Zhu Xiaoyan,
Huang Qing,
Cui HongLiang,
Fu Weiling
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of biophotonics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.877
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1864-0648
pISSN - 1864-063X
DOI - 10.1002/jbio.201500270
Subject(s) - bacteria , spectroscopy , terahertz spectroscopy and technology , absorption spectroscopy , terahertz radiation , absorption (acoustics) , chemistry , analytical chemistry (journal) , biology , materials science , optoelectronics , chromatography , optics , physics , genetics , quantum mechanics , composite material
Here we demonstrated the potential and applicability of terahertz (THz) spectroscopy to detect four commonly found bacteria in the infectious diseases. Besides the different spectral characteristics between bacterial species, THz absorption differences for living bacteria, dead bacteria and bacterial powder of the same species were also investigated. Our results revealed that small differences in water contents between bacterial cells account for distinct discrepancies of the absorption coefficients, which can be used for bacterial species identification. Furthermore, living and dead bacteria showed different absorption coefficients as a result of their different hydration levels, suggesting that THz spectroscopy can be used to rapidly assess the living state of bacteria under test. Our results clearly demonstrated the ability of THz spectroscopy for time‐saving and label‐free detection of bacteria with minimal sample preparation, potentially to be utilized for point‐of‐care tests in the near future.Schematic representation of bacterial detection by THz spectroscopy. Different bacteria have distinctive absorption coefficients as a result of their different water contents.