Ocean Optics Licenses Bacterial Endospore Detection Technology for First-response Monitoring of Suspicious Powders

New Army technology has been integrated into a low-cost, portable system for instant detection of bacterial endospores -- including substances that are suspected to be concentrated forms of anthrax spores.

Dunedin, Fla., March 2003 -- Ocean Optics, Inc. has licensed a U.S. Army Research Laboratory (Adelphi, Md.) technology for the detection and quantification of bacterial spores in sample media. The technology has been integrated into a low-cost, portable system for instant detection of bacterial endospores -- including substances that are suspected to be concentrated forms of anthrax spores -- in suspicious powders.

With existing technology, first responders are now likely to quarantine potentially contaminated areas until extensive, complex laboratory testing of samples can be completed. With the EDS2000 Endospore Detection System, the results of testing of high-concentration contamination are available within one second. Indeed, the EDS2000 has a detection limit of 100,000 spores; by comparison, the contaminated mail sent in late 2001 to the office of Senator Tom Daschle was reported to have as many as 1 trillion spores per gram.

The EDS2000 is $4,999. It comes in a splash-proof carrying case and weighs less than 10 pounds.

The EDS2000 Endospore Detection System uses Ocean Optics miniature spectrometer technology to detect and quantify the photoluminescence of bacterial endospores in suspect samples. Specifically, the system tests for the presence of a major spore component, which is extracted from the endospores when added to a reagent in a disposable test vial. There are only two genera of bacteria known to produce endospores -- Clostridium and Bacillus, the latter of which includes Bacillus anthracis (anthrax). When high concentrations of these endospores are detected, it's a strong indication of foul play.

The EDS2000 is easy to use. Analysis begins by swabbing the potentially infected surface. The swab is swirled in a disposable plastic cuvette containing the special reagent. The cuvette is placed into the system's cuvette holder and exposed to UV light provided by a pulsed xenon lamp. The software compares the fluorescent pattern of a standard with the sample and displays the comparative results -- positive, possible or below limits of detection -- within seconds of the analysis.

The U.S. Army's bacterial endospore technology (U.S. Patent 5,876,960) is also being investigated for use in air monitoring systems and mail-sorting machinery.