Rapid Phenotypic Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing with Multichannel Large-Volume Scattering Imaging and a...

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Infectious Diseases

Background:

• Multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacterial infections pose a significant global health threat, especially in critical conditions like septic shock.
• Delays in identifying effective antibiotic treatments for MDR infections directly correlate with increased patient mortality.
• Current antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) methods can be time-consuming, hindering timely clinical decision-making.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel multichannel Large-Volume Scattering imaging (LVSim) system for rapid and precise phenotypic AST.
• To enable simultaneous monitoring of multiple sample/drug conditions for efficient testing.
• To achieve rapid determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for guiding antibiotic therapy.

Main Methods:

• Development of a multichannel Large-Volume Scattering imaging (LVSim) system capable of monitoring up to eight conditions concurrently.
• Application of a Bayesian Gaussian process model to analyze bacterial growth dynamics over time.
• Validation using *Escherichia coli* and *Pseudomonas aeruginosa* (including a slow-growing MDR clinical isolate).

Main Results:

• The LVSim system successfully achieved rapid MIC determination within 2 hours for tested bacterial strains.
• The system demonstrated precision in phenotypic AST, distinguishing susceptibility profiles.
• Simultaneous monitoring capability allows for efficient evaluation of multiple antibiotic treatments.

Conclusions:

• The multiplexed LVSim system represents a significant advancement in rapid phenotypic AST.
• This technology offers a promising solution for combating challenging multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.
• Faster MIC determination using LVSim can lead to more timely and effective patient treatment, potentially reducing mortality.