Development of MAST: A Microscopy-Based Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing Platform.

Area of Science:

• Clinical microbiology
• Infectious diseases
• Diagnostic technology

Background:

• Antibiotic resistance is a growing threat to effective treatment of bacterial infections.
• Current antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) methods face limitations in speed and adaptability for novel resistance patterns.
• A significant gap exists in rapid AST for emerging resistant pathogens.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate a novel, rapid, microscopy-based AST (MAST) platform.
• To address the limitations of current AST methodologies.
• To provide accurate and timely antimicrobial susceptibility data.

Main Methods:

• Developed a multicomponent MAST platform utilizing a 384-well plate format.
• Employed inkjet printing for precise application of antimicrobials and bacteria.
• Integrated automated microscopic imaging and deep learning for bacterial replication analysis and MIC determination.

Main Results:

• Achieved AST determinations within a 2-hour incubation period.
• Demonstrated high accuracy with 95.8% of results within ±1 and 99.4% within ±2 twofold dilutions of reference methods.
• Reported high categorical agreement (98.3%) with established AST protocols.

Conclusions:

• The MAST platform offers a promising solution for rapid and accurate AST.
• MAST effectively addresses the critical need for timely susceptibility testing in clinical microbiology.
• This technology has the potential to improve patient treatment strategies for bacterial infections.