Bacterial detection and differentiation via direct volatile organic compound sensing with surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy

11 September 2017, Version 1
This content is a preprint and has not undergone peer review at the time of posting.

Abstract

Through the direct detection of bacterial volatile organic compounds (VOCs), via surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS), we report here a reconfigurable assay for the identification and monitoring of bacteria. We demonstrate differentiation between highly clinically relevant organisms: Escherichia coli, Enterobacter cloacae, and Serratia marcescens. This is the first differentiation of bacteria via SERS of bacterial VOC signatures. The assay also detected as few as 10 CFU/ml of E. coli in under 12 hrs, and detected E. coli from whole human blood and human urine in 16 hrs at clinically relevant concentrations of 103 CFU/ml and 104 CFU/ml, respectively. In addition, the recent emergence of portable Raman spectrometers uniquely allows SERS to bring VOC detection to point-of-care settings for diagnosing bacterial infections.

Keywords

SERS
E. coli
Bacterial detection
Optical bacterial detection
Raman bacterial detection
SERS bacterial detection
Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy
Substrate based SERS
Volatile organic compounds
VOC detection
Chemistry
Biological Sciences

Supplementary materials

Title
Description
Actions
Title
SERS VOC SI ver01x4
Description
Actions

Comments

Comments are not moderated before they are posted, but they can be removed by the site moderators if they are found to be in contravention of our Commenting Policy [opens in a new tab] - please read this policy before you post. Comments should be used for scholarly discussion of the content in question. You can find more information about how to use the commenting feature here [opens in a new tab] .
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy [opens in a new tab] and Terms of Service [opens in a new tab] apply.