Mycometer
Mycometer develops flexible and versatile methods of documentation and delineation of microbial contamination in buildings and water systems. Our technology is the Swiss knife of rapid microbiology allowing reliable quantification of microbes in almost all environments: on surfaces, inside porous materials, in water, in diesel and slurries, in air. Using the same analytical equipment, the Mycometer technology can differentiate between bacteria and fungi using different chemistry.
Company details
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- Business Type:
- Manufacturer
- Industry Type:
- Health and Safety - Health and Safety Monitoring and Testing
- Market Focus:
- Globally (various continents)
- Year Founded:
- 1998
About Us
Mycometer was founded in 1998, by Dr. Morten Reeslev and Dr. Morten Miller as a spin-off from a research group at the University of Copenhagen. Today, Mycometer is the world's leading company within rapid methods for quantification of mould and bacteria in the indoor environment. Mycometer also experiences a rapid growth in the market for quantifying bacteria in water.
Our first product, the Mycometer®-test, for measuring the level of fungal biomass on surfaces, was presented to the market in 1999. The Bactiquant®-water test for quantifying bacteria in water and other liquids was presented to the market in 2007. Two new products were launched in 2009; Bactiquant®-surface which is a method for quantifying bacteria on surfaces after flooding's and Mycometer®-air which is a new method for measuring the level of mould in air samples (spores, hyphal fragments and micro fragments).
Mycometer A/S holds several patents and registered trademarks. A subsidiary, Mycometer, Inc., was opened in Tampa, USA in 2009. In 2015, Mycometer is successfully bringing its technology to Singapore and the rest of Asia through its new sales office in Singapore.
Many rapid microbiology test methods are very fast and very easy to carry out. However, this is often accomplished at the expense of reliability. Mycometer methods provide value by being rapid, robust, reliable, relevant and reproducible.
- RAPID: As fast as possible without compromising reliability
- ROBUST: Reduced sample handling, sufficient sample size and a robust assay chemistry
- REPRODUCIBLE: Standardized protocols for sampling and analysis
- RELEVANT: Adjusting sensitivity depending on the application
Mycometer methods are rapid and allows for timely results as opposed to the long analysis time characterizing traditional cultivation methods. In general, Mycometer assays can be performed in 30 minutes. However, rapid results are meaningless if they are not reproducible and provide relevant results. Mycometer products are designed to be robust and reproducible. The robustness and reproducibility have been tested by US-EPA who found a SEM of 5.2% when two persons using different analysis equipment tested the same types of samples.
Technology
Enzyme Activity
The Mycometer technology is based on the finding that it is possible to identify enzyme activities that characterizes certain taxonomic groups of organisms. In 1999, the Company launched the Mycometer®-test for measuring the fungal biomass on surfaces. This test is based on the finding that the level of an enzyme activity ( β-N-acetylhexosaminidase, NAHA) correlates with the level of ergosterol, a known indicator of fungal presence. Later investigations have shown that a broad range of randomly chosen fungi contain very high levels of this enzyme activity, which seems to be ubiquitous in fungi. Bactiquant®-water for quantifying bacteria in liquids was launched in 2007. This product is based on the targeting of a bacterial hydrolase activity which correlates with bacterial biomass in a wide range of water samples. Today, Mycometer holds several patents and trademarks. The Company's technology has been verified by the United States Environmental Agency (US-EPA).
Principle
The enzymes are localized in the microorganisms. So when the sample is contacted with a solution containing an artificial enzyme substrate, the substrate is hydrolyzed by the target enzyme and a fluorophore is released.
Measurements
Measurements
The amount of fluorophore released by the microbial enzymes can then be measured in a small field fluorometer.
Robustness
What makes this technology particularly robust and reproducible is that the fluorophore is released directly into the reaction solution. This means that there is no need for extracting the fluorophore from the cells. This is a great advantage over many other technologies, as extraction procedures can be difficult to reproduce and add significantly to the variability of the test results.
Mycometer Surface - Mold Contamination Testing Tool
Mycometer Air - Airborne Fungal Biomass Testing System
BactiQuant-Water - Robust and Reliable Analysis Tool
BactiQuant Surface - Bacterial Contamination Surface Testing