Methods for detecting microorganisms

A method for detecting microbiological objects on a support comprising

• a) illuminating an area of the support with a set at least two incident collimated light sources forming an angle (α) of at least 10° with respect to the normal of the support, the value of angle (α) being independently selected for each incident collimated light source,
• b) acquiring an image of said area of said support illuminated by said set of at least two incident collimated light sources by means of a light receiving element having its optical acquisition axis along the normal of the support, and
• c) detecting the presence or the absence of microbiological objects on said area of said support by discrimination, on said acquired image, of light reflected, scattered and/or diffused from the support and from microbiological objects on said support.

A device for detecting microbiological objects on a support comprising a support and at least two incident collimated light sources for illuminating the support, said at least two incident collimated light sources forming an angle (α) of at least 10° with respect to the normal of the support, the value of angle (α) being independently selected for each incident collimated light source,

• a light receiving element for acquiring an image of an area of said support illuminated by said at least two incident collimated light sources, said light receiving element having its optical acquisition axis along the normal of the support, and
• means detecting the presence or the absence of microbiological objects on said area of said support by discrimination, on said acquired image, of light reflected, scattered and/or diffused from the support and from microbiological objects on said support, and
• optionally means to hold, and optionally move, the support.