Clinical Microbiology Is Growing Up: The Total Laboratory Automation Revolution [Review]

We describe systems currently enabling total laboratory automation (TLA) for culture-based microbiology testing. We describe the general components of a microbiology automation system and the various functions of these instruments. We then introduce the 2 most widely used systems currently on the market: Becton Dickinson's Kiestra TLA and Copan's WASPLab. We discuss the impact of TLA on metrics such as turnaround time and recovery of microorganisms, providing a review of the current literature and perspectives from laboratory directors, managers, and technical staff. Finally, we provide an outlook for future advances in TLA for microbiology with a focus on artificial intelligence for automated culture interpretation. SUMMARY: TLA is playing an increasingly important role in clinical microbiology. Although challenges remain, TLA has great potential to affect laboratory efficiency, turnaround time, and the overall quality of culture-based microbiology testing.
Source: Clinical Chemistry - Category: Chemistry Authors: Tags: Infectious Disease Review Source Type: research