Virological Analysis

Traditional virological analysis techniques such as molecular methods based on PCR, RT-PCR and qRT-PCR are expensive and time consuming.

Deep UV laser induced fluorescence offers the ability to perform the analysis in a few minutes or near real time without the use of expensive assays or reagents. With deep UV (248nm) excitation, the complete emission spectra of the virus from the deep UV to visible range may be detected. This fluorescence spectrum is a function of the specific molecules in the microorganisms. Although this technique has commonly been used in bacterial detection and analysis it has recently been shown to also be applicable to quickly detecting novel strains of viruses. Due to differences in the amount and composition of fluorescent molecules, different viruses have been shown to have variations in spectra which allows them to be classified.

Instruments such as the Photon Systems DUV Raman PL 200 have the ability to excite virus samples with deep UV (248nm) laser based illumination and collect a high resolution (1.2nm) fluorescence spectra over the range of 250nm to 620nm. When combined with principal component analysis and classification algorithms, this allows sensitive virological detection and analysis.