Non-contact and non-destructive detection and identification of Bacillus anthracis inside paper envelopes

Shai Kendler; Ran Aharoni; Shay Cohen; Raviv Raich; Shay Weiss; Haim Levy; Ziv Mano; Barak Fishbain; Izhar Ron

doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.05.007

Non-contact and non-destructive detection and identification of Bacillus anthracis inside paper envelopes

Forensic Sci Int. 2019 Aug:301:e55-e58. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.05.007. Epub 2019 May 9.

Authors

Shai Kendler¹, Ran Aharoni², Shay Cohen³, Raviv Raich⁴, Shay Weiss⁵, Haim Levy⁶, Ziv Mano⁷, Barak Fishbain⁸, Izhar Ron⁹

Affiliations

¹ Environmental Physics Department, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Israel; Department of Environmental, Water and Agricultural Engineering Faculty of Civil & Environmental Engineering the Technion, Israeli Institute of Technology, Israel. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Environmental Physics Department, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Israel. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Environmental Physics Department, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Israel. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Oregon State University, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Infectious Diseases Department, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Israel. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁶ Infectious Diseases Department, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Israel. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁷ Department of Environmental, Water and Agricultural Engineering Faculty of Civil & Environmental Engineering the Technion, Israeli Institute of Technology, Israel. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ Department of Environmental, Water and Agricultural Engineering Faculty of Civil & Environmental Engineering the Technion, Israeli Institute of Technology, Israel. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁹ Physical Chemistry Department, Israel Institute for Biological Research, Israel. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 31153677
DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.05.007

Abstract

Efficient and safe detection of Bacillus anthracis spores (BAS) is a challenging task especially in bio-terror scenarios where the agent is concealed. We provide a proof-of-concept for the identification of concealed BAS inside mail envelopes using short-wave infrared hyperspectral imaging (SWIR-HSI). The spores and two other benign materials are identified according to their typical absorption spectrum. The identification process is based on the removal of the envelope signal using a new automatic new algorithm. This method may serve as a fast screening tool prior to using classical bioanalytical techniques.

Keywords: Algorithm; Bacillus anthracis; Bio-terror; Hyperspectral imaging (HSI); Short-wave infrared (SWIR).

MeSH terms

Algorithms
Bacillus anthracis / isolation & purification*
Bioterrorism
Forensic Sciences / methods
Humans
Infrared Rays*
Postal Service
Spectrum Analysis / methods*
Spores, Bacterial / isolation & purification*