Patent ID: 8547550

Claim:
A system for identifying organisms, comprising: a collection subsystem that collects a sample onto a filter; a reagent treatment subsystem that receives the sample from the collection subsystem and treats the sample collected by the collection subsystem using a reagent that identifies whether there are any organisms of interest within the sample, wherein a potential viable organism of interest is distinguishable based at least in part, by a marker produced as a result of a reaction between the reagent and the potential viable organism of interest; a fluorescence imaging subsystem that receives the treated sample from the reagent treatment subsystem and that automatically takes at least one image of the collected sample; a Raman spectroscopy subsystem that receives the sample from the fluorescence subsystem and that measures the spectrum of potential viable organisms that are located based upon at least one image of the collected sample; a visible imaging microscope subsystem that provides a visual image of any organisms analyzed by the Raman spectroscopy subsystem; and a processor that performs image processing to locate potential viable organisms within the sample, which are targeted by the Raman spectroscopy subsystem, the processor further analyzes the spectrum recorded by the Raman spectroscopy subsystem to make a preliminary identification of the targeted organisms for confirmation by a user using the visible imaging microscope subsystem, the processor determines the target locations based upon the identification of markers located within at least one image, the processor communicates the preliminary identification to a user, the processor relinquishes control of the visual imaging microscope subsystem for the user to scan the target location and non-target locations of the collected sample to make a subjective identification and to compare the preliminary identification with the subjective identification.