OPTICAL IMAGING FOR IDENTIFYING CELLS LABELED WITH FLUORESCENT NANOPARTICLES

摘要

An optical detection system for identifying target bacterial cells in a food sample, comprising a first fluorescent nanoparticle dye labeling specifically the target cells. A second fluorescent dye reacts non-specifically with all bacterial cells. An imaging unit optically excites the fluorescent dyes and captures images of the sample for each of two different wavelength bands emitted as a result of the excitation of the dyes. A processing unit identifies the target cells from the sample and comprises an image processing unit for processing the images of the sample. A target cell identifier identifies the target cells in the images by detecting individual units present at a same location in both of the processed images. An output unit provides data related to the identified target cells in the sample. A method is also provided.