Interpretation of the bacterial growth process based on the analysis of the speckle field generated by calibrated scattering media.

The speckle imaging technique has been proven to be a reliable and effective method for real-time monitoring of the growth kinetics of any bacterium in suspension. To understand the interaction between the light and the bacterial density, a simulation of the bacterial growth of Bacillus thuringiensis was performed using calibrated microspheres of different concentrations and sizes. Results show that the decrease of speckle grain size with the increase of the medium scattering coefficient reveals the two essential phases of the bacterial growth: the exponential phase where the number of the bacteria increases and the stationary phase where sporulation and cell lysis occur.