Table I.

Comparison of Three Optical Methods for In Vivo Imaging of Bacterial Infection Models

	Bioluminescence	Fluorescent Proteins	Targeted Fluorescent Probes
Advantages	• Inherently low background. • Amenable to longitudinal studies • Close mimics of natural bacterial strains • Ability to detect infection recovery	• Amenable to longitudinal studies • Near-IR versions under development • No substrate needed • Ability to detect infection recovery	• Bright near-IR probes are best for deep tissue • Activatable by enzymes • Possible translation to clinic • Multimodal probes under development
Disadvantages	• Limited tissue penetration of visible luminescence • Bacteria must be encoded with genetic reporter • Signal can vary • Substrate is often needed	• Limited tissue penetration of visible emission • Autofluorescence • Bacteria must be encoded with genetic reporter	• Probe preparation • Probe may affect bacteria function • Probes may be toxic or decompose • Not ideal for longitudinal studies.
Best Use of Method	• Study of bacterial pathogenesis • Antibiotic screening	• Study of bacterial pathogenesis • Antibiotic screening	• Detection of bacteria which do not express genetic reporters. • Clinical potential
How to Get Access to the Method	• Academic literature • Instrumentation vendors	• Academic literature • Instrumentation vendors	• Academic literature • Instrumentation vendors
References	[3]	[7]	[15]
Relevent Patents	[40]	[41]	[N/A]