Method of detecting and counting microorganisms

US5789191A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• BEIERSDORF AG · DE

Inventors

• Bianca Mayer · Hamburg, DE
• Gerhard Sauermann · Wiemersdorf, DE
• Bernd Traupe · Hamburg, DE
• Florian Wolf · Hamburg, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Feb 21, 1996
• Grant date: Aug 4, 1998
• Expiry date: Feb 21, 2016

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10S435/923
• WIPO field: Biotechnology
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

The invention provides a cosmetic or dermatological method for detecting and/or selectively quantifying individual microorganisms, and/or whole groups of microorganisms, which are present on human or animal skin, comprising the steps of PA1 removing a sample of the microflora of the human or animal skin, PA1 treating the sample with a deinhibiting medium, adding the treated sample to a culture medium which exhibits favorable growth conditions for a defined group of microorganisms but unfavorable growth conditions for other microorganisms, to produce a selective culture, and incubating the selective culture over a sufficiently long period of time, to allow only the group of microorganisms for which the culture medium exhibits favorable growth conditions the opportunity to multiply, in association with metabolic products, in particular CO.sub.2, produced which collect either in the culture medium itself or in a test vessel which is provided for the purpose and which contains an indicator medium, and PA1 the concentration of the metabolic products is elucidated by means of the change in the alternating current (AC) resistance of the culture medium and/or the indicator medium in the te…