Abstract

RAMIREZ, Nardo; REGUEIRO, Angel; ARIAS, Olimpia  and  CONTRERAS, Rolando. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy: An effective tool for a fast microbiological diagnosis. Biotecnol Apl [online]. 2009, vol.26, n.1, pp.72-78. ISSN 1027-2852.

Dielectric spectroscopy, also called electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, is traditionally used in monitoring corrosion and electro-deposition processes in the coating and characterization assessment of many kinds of sensors and semi-conductors. Its application in biotechnology for the characterization of cell cultures has, however, been notably expanded in the last decade. As a transductional principle, impedance has been applied in the field of microbiology as a means of detecting and quantifying pathogenic bacteria. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of Impedance Microbiology, its progress and its applications for the detection of foodborne pathogenic bacteria, including the use of interdigitated microelectrodes, the development of chip-based impedance microbiology and the integration of impedance biosensors along with other techniques such as dielectrophoresis and electropermeabilization. Reference is made to basic components, definitions and principles of this technique, as well as to the explanation of the components and principles for cell culture design and the use of equivalent circuits for the analysis of the systems based on this alternative.

Keywords : bacteria detection; diagnosis; impedance; microbiology.

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