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Updated: May 5, 2026
Preparation of a Blood Culture Pellet for Rapid Bacterial Identification and Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing
Published on: October 15, 2014
Plug-and-Play Centrifuge-Only Device for Rapid Sepsis Diagnosis
Mohammad Osaid1, M Henar Marino Miguélez1, Berke Bayrak1
1Micro and Nanosystems, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, 100 44, Sweden.
Abstract:
Sepsis is a time-critical condition causing over 13 million deaths annually, with each hour of treatment delay in patients with septic shock increasing mortality by 8%. Rapid pathogen identification is crucial, yet current workflows depend on multiple culture steps that delay pathogen identification and targeted treatment by days. A plug-and-play, fully automated centrifuge tube is presented that isolates and concentrates bacteria directly from blood or blood culture using only conventional lab centrifuges. Each tube can process 7.5 ml of sample and yields, within 40 min, a 0.7 mL clear suspension with greater than threefold enhanced bacteria concentration and 99.9% blood cell rejection, ready for downstream detection. It is demonstrated that this approach supports key diagnostic workflows, including 1) a novel isolate-then-culture strategy detecting bacterial concentrations as low as 10 CFU/mL; 2) direct matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) identification, bypassing subculturing, and; 3) microfluidic single-cell detection. This fully automated platform is compatible with existing centrifuges, is anticipated to facilitate broader adoption in routine clinical practice, while its ability to enable rapid, same-workshift bacterial enhancement can reduce diagnostic time by about one day in the context of time-critical sepsis diagnostics.
Insights
A new automated tube rapidly isolates and concentrates bacteria from blood samples in under 40 minutes. This sepsis diagnostic innovation significantly reduces pathogen identification time, potentially saving lives.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Clinical Diagnostics
- Microbiology
Background:
- Sepsis is a life-threatening condition with high mortality rates, exacerbated by delays in pathogen identification and treatment.
- Current diagnostic methods for sepsis rely on lengthy culture-based workflows, delaying targeted therapy by days.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a fully automated, plug-and-play centrifuge tube for rapid isolation and concentration of bacteria directly from blood or blood cultures.
- To enable faster pathogen identification and support critical sepsis diagnostics.
Main Methods:
- A novel, automated centrifuge tube designed for processing 7.5 mL of blood or blood culture samples.
- Utilizes conventional laboratory centrifuges for bacterial isolation and concentration within 40 minutes.
- Evaluated for downstream compatibility with isolate-then-culture strategies, direct MALDI-TOF identification, and microfluidic single-cell detection.
Main Results:
- Achieved a > threefold increase in bacteria concentration in a 0.7 mL clear suspension within 40 minutes.
- Demonstrated >99.9% rejection of blood cells.
- Supported detection of bacterial concentrations as low as 10 CFU/mL and enabled same-workshift bacterial enhancement.
Conclusions:
- The automated tube platform offers a rapid, efficient method for bacterial concentration, significantly reducing diagnostic time for sepsis.
- Compatibility with existing infrastructure and downstream applications facilitates clinical adoption for improved sepsis management.
- This innovation has the potential to reduce sepsis diagnostic time by approximately one day.
