Other

USA As Represented by Secretary of the Navy

David C White

David E Nivens

James Q Chambers

Marc W Mittelman

An apparatus for and a method of on-line detecting and assessing, in situ, he amount and characterization of microbial trace contamination in an associated ultra-pure water system is disclosed. The apparatus comprises, inter alia, a monitor/detector portion and an assessment/identification portion. The monitor/detector portion includes a contamination mass detector which nondestructively senses the presence of microbial biofilms in real time when grown upon the surface of a quartz crystal wafer portion of the contamination mass detector. The assessment/identification portion is configured to provide quantitative analysis of the microbial biofilms formations based on signature biomarker cellular components. A programmable controller is configured to integrate these and other portions into an automated apparatus, which is capable of providing real time chemical countermeasures to prevent the potential deleterious effect of the microbial trace contamination uncovered.

Apparatus for and method of detecting/identifying microbial

A method and apparatus for inferring and quantifying the presence and identifying endotoxins of Gram-negative bacteria in a bacteria-containing sample comprising obtaining a sample, extracting any lipids from the sample using supercritical CO.sub.2, hydrolyzing the lipid insoluble residue with a mild acid catalyst, derivatizing the hydroxy fatty acids, and analyzing the sample using a gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer. The results of the gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer analysis allow detection of as few as 10 bacteria or parts of bacteria in a 100 ml sample and specification of the type of Gram-negative bacterial group.

Growing community of inventors

Knoxville, TN, United States of America

David C White