Improved microbiological diagnostic due to utilization of a high-throughput homogenizer for routine tissue processing

Tissue specimens are valuable materials for microbiological diagnostics and require swift and accurate processing. Established processing methods are complex, labor intensive, hardly if at all standardizable, and prone to incorporate contaminants. To improve analyses from tissue samples in routine microbiological diagnostics, by facilitating, fastening, and standardizing processing as well as increasing the microbial yield, performance of Precellys 24 high-throughput tissue homogenizer was evaluated. Therefore, tissue samples were artificially inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans in 3 different ways on the surface and within the material. Microbial yield from homogenized samples was compared to direct plating method. Further, as proof of principle, routine tissue samples from knee and hip endoprosthesis infections were analyzed. The process of tissue homogenization with Precellys 24 homogenizer is easy and fast to perform and allows for a high degree of standardization. Microbial yield after homogenization was significantly higher as compared to conventional plating technique.