Eur. Phys. J. Special Topics 229, 2833–2841 (2020)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjst/e2020-900212-x

Regular Article

Home-built automated system for microorganisms identification based on laser scattering

A low-cost design and construction using a CNC milling and pattern recognition

Centro Regional de Ciências Nucleares do Nordeste, Comissão Nacional de Energia Nuclear, Av. Prof. Luiz Freire, 200, Cidade Universitária, 50740-545 Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil

^* e-mail: romuloptenorio@cnen.gov.br

Received: 30 September 2019
Accepted: 27 July 2020
Published online: 16 November 2020

Abstract

The identification of microorganisms between different types and species has great importance in hospitals, food industry and pharmaceutical companies. In recent works, it was found that different microorganisms colony species, which show similar visual morphology, provide a distinctive forward-scattering pattern when struck by a laser beam. The produced pattern was used as a microorganism signature and identification. Comparing with the current methods of microorganism identification, which are laborious, time-consuming, and costly to implement, the identification based on the image scattering pattern recognition sounds very appealing. In this work, we constructed a non-expensive portable laser scattering image device, based on the acquisition of colony laser scattering images and pattern recognition, to classify, distinguish and identify among microorganisms. We tested our system with three model microorganisms, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Our results showed a recovery of 92% on the accuracy in the identification of the microorganisms.