Detecting Single Bacterial Cells through Optical Resonances in Microdroplets

Detection of single bacterial cells through optical resonances has been demonstrated in microdroplets. The setup enables high throughput non-specific detection of single E. Coli cells without any labeling. The cells inside the microdroplet have a direct effect on the morphology dependent resonances that are supported by Rhodamine 6G fluorescence; modification of the resonances arises from changes due to scattering and changes in the local refractive index. The change in the optical resonance spectrum can be observed at low concentrations where each microdroplet contains no more than one cell.