Aerosol-fluorescence spectrum analyzer: real-time measurement of emission spectra of airborne biological particles.

We have assembled an aerosol-fluorescence spectrum analyzer (AFS), which can measure the fluorescence spectra and elastic scattering of airborne particles as they flow through a laser beam. The aerosols traverse a scattering cell where they are illuminated with intense (50 kW/cm(2)) light inside the cavity of an argon-ion laser operating at 488 nm. This AFS can obtain fluorescence spectra of individual dye-doped polystyrene microspheres as small as 0.5 µm in diameter. The spectra obtained from microspheres doped with pink and green-yellow dyes are clearly different. We have also detected the fluorescence spectra of airborne particles (although not single particles) made from various biological materials, e.g., Bacillus subtilis spores, B. anthrasis spores, riboflavin, and tree leaves. The AFS may be useful in detecting and characterizing airborne bacteria and other airborne particles of biological origin.

[1]  W. H. Nelson,et al.  The Steady-State and Decay Characteristics of Primary Fluorescence from Live Bacteria , 1987 .

[2]  P. Chylek.  Partial-wave resonances and the ripple structure in the Mie normalized extinction cross section , 1976 .

[3]  D. Garvey,et al.  Response Characteristics of the Particle Measuring Systems Active Scattering Aerosol Spectrometer Probe (ASASP–X) , 1983 .

[4]  Michael D. Barnes,et al.  Homogeneous linewidths of Rhodamine 6G at room temperature from cavity-enhanced spontaneous emission rates , 1992 .

[5]  R. C. Benson,et al.  Cellular autofluorescence--is it due to flavins? , 1979, The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society.

[6]  J. Aubin.  Autofluorescence of viable cultured mammalian cells. , 1979, The journal of histochemistry and cytochemistry : official journal of the Histochemistry Society.

[7]  Jerri Tribble,et al.  Bacteria identification of otitis media with fluorescence spectroscopy , 1994, Lasers in surgery and medicine.

[8]  E Hirst,et al.  Light scattering from nonspherical airborne particles: experimental and theoretical comparisons. , 1994, Applied optics.

[9]  Lin,et al.  Cavity-modified spontaneous-emission rates in liquid microdroplets. , 1992, Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics.

[10]  Robert E. Benner,et al.  Observation of Structure Resonances in the Fluorescence Spectra from Microspheres , 1980 .

[11]  Wladyslaw W. Szymanski,et al.  On the Sizing Accuracy of Laser Optical Particle Counters , 1986 .

[12]  L Reinisch,et al.  Noninvasive optical diagnosis of bacteria causing otitis media , 1994, The Laryngoscope.

[13]  J. Michael Ramsey,et al.  Enhanced fluorescence yields through cavity quantum-electrodynamic effects in microdroplets , 1994 .

[14]  William C. Hinds,et al.  Performance of PMS model LAS-X optical particle counter , 1986 .

[15]  S. C. Hill,et al.  Structural resonances observed in the fluorescence emission from small spheres on substrates. , 1984, Applied optics.

[16]  W. Nelson,et al.  Steady-State and Decay Characteristics of Protein Tryptophan Fluorescence from Bacteria , 1986 .

[17]  Burt V. Bronk,et al.  Variability of Steady-State Bacterial Fluorescence with Respect to Growth Conditions , 1993 .

[18]  W. Nelson,et al.  The Steady-State and Decay Characteristics of Protein Tryptophan Fluorescence from Algae , 1988 .