Automation Techniques in Aerobic Bacteriology

The automation in microbiology has been introduced some 30 years back. Major advances in technology over few decades led to the introduction of automated devices for sample inoculation, transportation to smart incubators, followed by its digital reading. The automation in aerobic bacteriology began first with the launch of first generation automated specimen processors, which took place more than 20 years ago. The various automated sample inoculation instruments now available are the Innova (BD), the InoqulA (BD Kiestra), the Previ-Isola (bio- Mérieux), the WASP (Copan) and the BD Phoenix AP (BD). Quite a number of automated aerobic bacterial ID and AST systems are also available in market. FDA cleared automated systems for phenotypic identification of bacteria includes: Vitek −2 (Biomerieux), MALDI-TOF MS (Biomerieux), MicroScan (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics), Phoenix (BD Diagnostics) and Aris 2X (Sensititre, Thermo Fisher). For complete colony counting, two types of automatic colony counters are available, first are the digital counters which are not automatic in complete sense. It is dependent on the technician to identify and probe the colony. Another one is the semi- automatic or automatic counters. These are equipped with hardware to capture high quality images. Automation in blood culture system was one of the very early automations to be seen in the field of microbiology. Automated blood culture system was first developed in 1970. Currently three automated microbial detection systems have been approved for use in the detection of bacteremia, namely the BacT/Alert 3D (bioMerieux), BD Bactec Plus (BD) and VersaTREK (TREK diagnostics system). Studies have shown that automated systems have been successful in increasing the sample screening rates by around 19% for positive stool specimens, detection of MRSA, VRE and ESBL producing microorganisms has increased by around 2%, 5% and 5% respectively in various clinical specimens. Studies are also needed to assess the financial, operational and clinical impact of automation in microbiology.