title: Rapid and label-free detection and assessment of bacteria by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Multi-scale Manufacturing Technology, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China.
authors.forename: Dongshan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Multi-scale Manufacturing Technology, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China.
authors.forename: Shihan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Yueping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Multi-scale Manufacturing Technology, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China.
authors.forename: Mingkun
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Multi-scale Manufacturing Technology, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China.
authors.forename: Zhongbo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Chongqing Key Laboratory of Multi-scale Manufacturing Technology, Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China. hcui@cigit.ac.cn.|College of Instrumentation Science and Electrical Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, 130061, China. hcui@cigit.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Hong-Liang
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, 400038, China. weiling_fu@126.com.
authors.forename: Weiling
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fu
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D055068:Terahertz Spectroscopy; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D014867:Water
keywords: absorption coefficient; bacterial analysis; laboratory medicine; terahertz time-domain spectroscopy