Identification of mycoplasm contamination in biotechnology production using raman spectroscopy

A system for detecting mycoplasma contaminated cells comprising:

• an optical imaging system implementing a Raman spectrometer that is controlled to direct a laser to a targeted volume within a sample area so as to collect a Raman spectrum of a single cell of a known cell line of interest;
• a processor coupled to the optical imaging system, wherein the processor is configured to:
• receive the Raman spectrum, the processor further configured to access a reference spectrum that describes the known line of interest by a spectrum that is known to be free of mycoplasma;
• compare the reference spectrum to the collected spectrum;
• identify whether there are unnatural molecular compositions within the collected spectrum based upon the comparison of the reference spectrum to the collected spectrum;
• and
• provide an indication as to whether mycoplasma is detected in the collected Raman spectrum based upon whether unnatural molecular compositions are identified within the collected spectrum.