2010.10
About Instruments Today No. 178
New Microorganism Detection
Development of Diagnostic Technology in Ocular Infectious Diseases [ 下載 PDF ]
Ming-Tse Kuo, Chi-Chang Lin, Tung Chain Chang, Hsien-Chang Chang
Most of the information into our brain to get the feeling in our mind must depend on one of the most important sensing organs-eyes. The infection to the eye is a critical threatening to human, not only the vision, but also the following recognition. In this context, we will simply introduce anatomy of the eye and diagnosis of the diseases of the eye in the first. Then we will generally describe the infectious diseases in the ophthalmology, and describe deeply a little bit for the uncommon infection of the eye. Finally, we will focus on the diagnostic technology of microbial keratitis, which is a vision-threatening disease necessitating rapid and correct diagnosis. In our study group, we integrate and develop the probes of microbial discrimination as a microbial keratitis DNA array, which oriented to important pathogens causing microbial keratitis. For the mission of rapid diagnosis in the clinic, we apply the optic technology-Raman microspectroscopy to help the differential diagnosis of corneal ulcer. We hope our efforts for the promotion of diagnostic quality for microbial keratitis will rescue the vision of many patients suffered from microbial keratitis.
Magnetic-Bead-Based Microfluidic Systems for Fast Detection of Infectious Disease: Dengue Virus as an Example [ 下載 PDF ]
Kang-Yi Lien, Huan-Yao Lei, Gwo-Bin Lee
The current study reports an innovative miniature microfluidic system for rapid detection of infectious diseases. Taking advantage of the specific interaction between the antibodies on the surface of magnetic beads and the surface antigens on viruses, the target virus can be recognized and further purified by a magnetic field generated by the built-in microcoils. The purified target virus can be then lysed to release ribonucleic acid (RNA) for the subsequent nucleic acid amplification process such as reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) processes. Experimental results showed that the dengue viruses (serotype 1-4) can be successfully purified and enriched by the high specificity and selectivity of antibody-conjugated magnetic beads, and the subsequent amplification of viral RNA can also be completed utilizing the on-chip temperature control module in an automatic manner with the sensitivity as high as 100 PFU/mL. As a whole, the developed system may provide a potential micro-total-analysissystem (µ-TAS) for bio-sample pre-treatment and the fast diagnosis of infectious diseases.
Rapid Identification and Detection of Methicillin- Resistant Staphylococcus aureus [ 下載 PDF ]
Sung-Pin Tseng, Lee-Jene Teng
Rapid detection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is very important in clinical medicine. Several rapid diagnostic methods have been developed with no longer incubation or much shorter incubation time compared to conventional methods. These methods include culture-base method, such as BBL CHROMagar, MRSA ID, MRSA Select and BacLiteTM Rapid MRSA test, and molecular methods, such as multiplex and real-time qPCR. In general, the rapid tests can reduce turn-around time in laboratories. In the future, rapid diagnosis might become a trend in microbiology laboratories.
Current and Future Trends in H. Pylori Rapid Diagnosis [ 下載 PDF ]
Kuei-Hsiang Hung, Jiunn-Jong Wu
Development of non-invasive diagnosis of H. pylori has been the scientists' goal. Urea breath test is fast, simple, and the first choice to the different types of gastric diseases of patients. Stool antigen tests have been extensively used in pre- and post-treatment settings both in adults and children. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which has been classified as invasive examination, is able to rapidly provide the information about the H. pylori virulence factors, susceptibility to macrolide, and to detect H. pylori in non-conventional specimens.
Using of Molecular Methods and DNA Microarray for the Detection and Identification of Clinical Fungal Infections [ 下載 PDF ]
Shiang Ning Leaw
The frequency of invasive fungal infections has increased in the past 20 years. The mortality rate for invasive fungal infection is 30–50%. The conventional methods for fungal identification required are labor-intensive and time consuming. The development of species-specific antifungal drugs has provided more treatment selections, thus identification of the fungal species has becoming more important. Rapid identification of fungal infections will provide appropriate treatment and thus reduce morbidity and mortality. This article will introduce the fungal classification and diseases caused by the infections. Then further describes the commonly used molecular identification methods. Finally DNA array technology is discussed.
Color Display of Optical Thin Film (II) [ 下載 PDF ]
Cheng-Chung Lee, Tsung-Hsun Yang, Shih-Fang Liao
Color plays as an important role in our daily life since there was human culture. As the rapid growth of display and solid state lighting industry, the requirement for the variety and fidelity of color performance is much more than ever before. Hence the importance of color measurement and evaluation method increases day by day. The quality of color produced from interference of lights is remarkable, and the optical thin film which exists around our life is the principal technology to achieve this task. It has already been demonstrated in animal, plant, and mineral. At first, color system, photometry, light source, color temperature, color rendering index and color measurement will be introduced in this article. And then, several applications of optical thin film in nature and man-made will be cited as instances to discuss and analyze by using the methodology of color science.
Imaging Mass Spectrometry and Its Biomedical Applications [ 下載 PDF ]
Yong-Chien Ling, Pei-Ling Lee, Yu-Sheng Yin, Shiu-Ling Lei, Yao-Tang Ke, Wen-Ta Chiu, Fu-Der Mai
Imaging mass spectrometry combining the ability of micro-area sampling, chemical analysis, and spatial resolution is capable of providing spatially-resolved atomic (or molecular) composition information, which makes it becoming an indispensible research tool for biomedical fields. Herein, we briefly introduce the principles of imaging mass spectrometry including secondary ionization mass spectrometry (SIMS), matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS), and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) first, followed by reviewing its current applications in biomedical researches.
Area CCD Sensor Module and Power Control Circuit Design [ 下載 PDF ]
Che-Cheng Huang, Shyh-Jye Jou, Tai-Lun Huang
CCD detecting device has many advantages including better sensitivity, higher value of SNR and good stability, the high resolution area CCD at many applications. The concept of electrical circuit module is described about coding of firmware, the integration testing of software and hardware. In order to provide the requirements of area CCD system module for a single input voltage and output loading current, it needs to design power control circuit to control the power supply, to avoid short circuit that cause the destruction of the module. At the same time, the lens of area CCD system module was mounted and focused at the focal plane of CCD device. It has been successfully presented to capture some images to verify feasibility with this CCD module.
A Study on the Mirror Surface Hydrodynamic Polishing by Using the Ring Shaped Tool [ 下載 PDF ]
Shuh-Yi Wang, Meng-Siou Sie
The feasibility of mirror surface hydrodynamic polishing by using the ring shaped tool is studied. This novel polishing process is expected to apply to the precise fabrication of molds and optics. In order to reduce the tool wear effect, the semi-spherical tool is replaced by the ring shaped one. The experimental results show that the machining rate is not affected by the tool wear, that is, this new process provides excellent machining repeatability. On the other hand, the mirror surface with Ra 4.4 nm was yielded in the larger area polishing.
