Gianna Agosta
Pronouns: she/her
Research Mentor(s): Josh Herzog
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Mechanical Engineering / Engineering
Program: UROP
Session: Session 3 (11:00am – 11:50am)
Authors: Giana Agosta, Joshua Herzog
Abstract
Infections of the cornea are difficult to diagnose as different sources of infection can have a large range of potential effects. Fluorescence imaging has been proposed as a potential diagnostic tool due to it’s low cost and relative simplicity. However, fluorescence imaging faces challenges including radiative trapping. Higher concentrations of microbes may be signified by increased fluorescence intensity. However, higher optical density also provides more opportunity for radiative trapping which could bias the measurement. This study wished to determine the impact that optical density has on the fluorescence (including radiative trapping) of specific strains of bacteria to better understand the impact radiative trapping may have on diagnosis of infections. E. coli cultures were grown and routinely sampled over the span of 5 weeks. Samples were routinely collected to measure cell concentration via laser scattering, and fluorescence properties via fluorescence imaging and spectroscopy. Preliminary results suggest that radiative trapping is negligible compared to inter-sample variation caused by other uncontrolled factors at the cell concentrations used here. However, further characterization and analysis are needed to quantify this effect and identify the concentration at which radiative trapping becomes significant.
