Microbiology is one of the oldest disciplines of laboratory medicine yet one of the last to embrace automation. Now, an imposing acronym is set to change the status quo and place bacteriology firmly in the 21st century. Molecular methods of microbial identification have long been regarded as the way forward for clinical laboratories, providing fast and accurate results for a wide range of pathogens, without the need for long incubation times. Mass spectrometry (MS) represents one of the most flexible technologies in this arena, offering precise classification of organisms based on unique spectral signatures.
Although this technology has taken over a decade to progress from the research environment to the clinical setting, the recent commercial availability of MS-based microbial identification systems, such as bioMérieux’s VITEK MS platform, represent an important landmark in the way microbiology laboratories approach microbial detection, enabling the quick and convenient identification of a wide spectrum of pathogens using a standardised, automated approach.
View from City Hospital
Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust is the first centre in the UK to put the VITEK MS into routine use in its central microbiology laboratory at Birmingham City Hospital, and it is already beginning to see the benefits for patients, clinicians and laboratory staff. Helena Kilgariff, microbiology laboratory manager, has overseen the introduction of the VITEK MS and explained its benefits to the laboratory: “From a management standpoint, the main advantage of the VITEK MS is improving efficiency and streamlining workflow. It takes us a step closer to our goal of full microbiology laboratory automation (FMLA), and offers greater flexibility and adaptability without increasing staffing levels. The switch to a mass spectrometry-based method has significantly reduced turnaround times, as well as increasing our throughput capacity.
“Replacing numerous different immunological and serological tests with a single automated system is not only more efficient in terms of staff time, it also has a major impact on other aspects of the laboratory. Although we obviously maintain the ability to perform traditional techniques, we have been able to reduce significantly our stock levels of these test kits, offering considerable savings in terms of storage, particularly refrigerated storage. This reduction in manual testing also cuts the amount of waste the laboratory produces, reducing our environmental impact, and has simplified our procurement procedures, easing the administrative burden on staff.”
Log in or register FREE to read the rest
This story is Premium Content and is only available to registered users. Please log in at the top of the page to view the full text.
If you don't already have an account, please register with us completely free of charge.