Interpretation of Bacterial Smears and Cultures Using Artificial Intelligence

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) to aid in the diagnosis of infectious diseases is a growing area of interest. AI-based applications in the clinical microbiology laboratory have shown great prospect for the automated interpretation of smears and cultures through digitalization. As automation becomes more common and the algorithms become more accurate, these can optimize laboratory efficiency, workflows, and turnaround times. This review will focus on summarizing the performance of AI-based methods for the interpretation of bacteriology smears and cultures.