Fast and non-contact optical estimation of microorganisms activity

Project title:

"Fast and non-contact optical estimation of microorganisms activity"

Project contract number:

lzp-2018/2-0051

Project implementation deadline:

01.12.2018 – 01.12.2020

Total project funding:

200 000,00 EUR

Research manager:

Aleksejs Ļihačovs (Biophotonics laboratory)

About the project:

The aim of the project is to develop and test a new contactless optical technology for rapid assessment of microbiological activity under laboratory conditions. Non-contact evaluation will use laser spectral contrast imaging technology in combination with image processing with artificial neural networks (ANN). The microbiological activity evaluation process will consist of the registration of time-varying laser spectral structures, ANN processing of the obtained data and visualization of the result obtained. During the project, the technology (prototype) and ANN algorithm will be tested  in a laboratory environment; equipment and algorithms will be tested for accuracy using various microorganisms (yeasts, bacteria). The resulting technology will record the activity of microorganisms (such as growth rate) and allow the number of colony forming units (CFUs) to be determined two to six times faster than conventionally used counting methods. The project team includes experts in biophotonics, microbiology, electronics and information technologies from the University of Latvia and Riga Technical University.