Automated plate reading system for urine cultures could create more efficient workflow

Key takeaways:

• The automated system accurately identified 98.1% of negative cultures.
• The system was also cost effective and easy to install, and user training was easy to complete.

HOUSTON — An automated plate reading system for urine cultures was accurate and easy to use, which could create a more efficient urine culture workflow, researchers reported at ASM Microbe.

“Chronic staffing shortages and increased workload necessitated a closer look at how we might be able to further streamline our work processes in the laboratory,” Mary George, PhD, director of the microbiology laboratory at Albany Med Health System, told Healio. “Automation seemed like a way to help with this, and so we wanted to determine if the Clever Culture Systems APAS Independence automated digital plate reader would be a viable option for us. We considered cost, accuracy, ease of use, adaptability to already established workflows and space.”

To evaluate APAS Independence, George and colleagues processed 1,028 urine cultures by manually injecting blood and MacConkey agar plates with 1 µL of urine and incubating them in APAS plate carriers in an incubator.

According to the study, plates that had incubated at least 18 hours were then loaded onto the APAS, where they were sorted as either having no growth, doubtful growth (less than10 colonies) or growth requiring review (more than 10 colonies).

Overall, the APAS accurately identified 98.1% of the negative cultures when no growth and doubtful plate designations were considered a negative test and when review plate designations were considered a positive test. According to the study, 10 cultures were read as negative by the APAS but positive by manual reading, of which seven grew 10 to 100 colonies of mixed urogenital flora and three grew 10 to 100 colonies of Candida glabrata. The researchers added that there was a total of 340 negative cultures (33%) during evaluation that could be automatically finalized in the laboratory information system without technologist intervention.

Overall, George said these findings demonstrate that the APAS can accurately identify urine cultures with nonsignificant growth and clear them from the manual reading and reporting workflow, allowing staff to focus their time on significant cultures while remaining a lower cost tool than other automated systems.

Additionally, she said that the APAS, with length and depth dimensions like a standard laboratory worktable, was easy to install in the limited space within our laboratory and training was easy to complete. which will allow for support from nontechnical staff with loading and removal of sorted plates.

“The APAS will create efficiencies that will allow for reduced turnaround times for urine culture results, even with increased testing volumes and current reduced staffing levels,” George concluded.

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