| 摘要 |
A process for detecting the presence of living cells suspended in an aqueous medium preferably at a nearly neutral pH, which comprises: (a) reducing a tellurapyrylium Te(IV) dihydroxide (TPDH) with cells, optionally while using a substituted benzoquinone electron transfer agent to assist the reduction, thereby producing a change in light absorbance and (b) sensing the change in absorbance to detect or quantify the presence of the cells. The light absorbance change comprises the appearance of a new spectral peak from the product formed by reduction of the Te(IV) dihydroxide. The new peak has a high extinction coefficient in the near infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, i.e., away from the spectral region where some biological components cause spectral interference. Consequently, detection methods provided by this invention have a high degree of sensitivity and are comparatively free from spectral interference caused by materials commonly present in biological materials.
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