TEXTURAL CHARACTERISTICS OF FIVE MICROORGANISMS FOR RAPID DETECTION USING IMAGE PROCESSING

A rapid and cost-effective technique for identification and classification of microorganisms was explored using fluorescence microscopy and image analysis. After staining the microorganisms with fluorescent dyes (diamidino-2-phenyl-indole [DAPI] and acridine orange [AO], images of the microorganisms were captured using a charge-coupled device camera attached to a light microscope. Textural features were extracted from the images. Fluorescence emission from Bacillus thuringiensis is the highest compared with other microbes, and the emission from Lactobacillus brevis is the lowest. Various microorganisms can be differentiated using various textural features from images using AO or DAPI dye. Many textural features of the images obtained from the two dyes were different.