Selective Detection and Automated Counting of Fluorescently-Labeled Chrysotile Asbestos Using a Dual-Mode High-Throughput Microscopy (DM-HTM) Method

Sensors

Myoung-Ock Cho³  Hyo Mi Chang²  Donghee Lee³  Yeon Gyu Yu²  Hwataik Han¹ 

[1] School of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Kookmin University, Jeongneung-ro 77, Seongbuk-u, Seoul 136-702, Korea; E-Mail:;Department of Chemistry, Graduate School, Kookmin University, Jeongneung-ro 77, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136-702, Korea; E-Mails:;Department of Mechanical Engineering, Graduate School, Kookmin University, Jeongneung-ro 77, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136-702, Korea; E-Mails:

关键词: asbestos;    chrysotile;    DksA;    high-throughput microscopy;    dual-mode imaging;    reflection;    fluorescence;    image processing and analysis;    automated counting;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s130505686

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Phase contrast microscopy (PCM) is a widely used analytical method for airborne asbestos, but it is unable to distinguish asbestos from non-asbestos fibers and requires time-consuming and laborious manual counting of fibers. Previously, we developed a high-throughput microscopy (HTM) method that could greatly reduce human intervention and analysis time through automated image acquisition and counting of fibers. In this study, we designed a dual-mode HTM (DM-HTM) device for the combined reflection and fluorescence imaging of asbestos, and automated a series of built-in image processing commands of ImageJ software to test its capabilities. We used DksA, a chrysotile-adhesive protein, for selective detection of chrysotile fibers in the mixed dust-free suspension of crysotile and amosite prepared in the laboratory. We demonstrate that fluorescently-stained chrysotile and total fibers can be identified and enumerated automatically in a high-throughput manner by the DM-HTM system. Combined with more advanced software that can correctly identify overlapping and branching fibers and distinguish between fibers and elongated dust particles, the DM-HTM method should enable fully automated counting of airborne asbestos.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.