Identification of medically relevant microorganisms by vibrational spectroscopy

In the recent years, vibrational spectroscopics (infrared and Raman spectroscopy) have been developed for all soils of analyses in microbiology. Important Features of these methods are the relative case with which measurements can be performed. Furthermore, in order to obtain infrared or Raman spectra, there is only a limited amount of sample handling involved without the need for expensive chemicals, labels or dyes. Here, we review the potential application of vibrational spectroscopics for the use in medical microbiology. After describing some of the basics of the techniques, considerations on reproducibility and standardisation are presented. Finally, the use of infrared and Raman spectroscopy for the (rapid) identification of medically relevant microorganisms is discussed. It can be concluded that vibrational spectroscopics show high potential as novel methods in medical microbiology. (C) 2002 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.