We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Alifax Presents First Automated System for Bacterial Culture and Susceptibility Testing at ECCMID 2022

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 22 Apr 2022

Image: Alfred 60AST is the first automated system for bacterial culture and susceptibility testing (Photo courtesy of Alifax)

Image: Alfred 60AST is the first automated system for bacterial culture and susceptibility testing (Photo courtesy of Alifax)

Alifax S.r.l. (Padua, Italy) presented the world’s first automated system for bacterial culture and susceptibility testing at the 32nd edition of the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID 2022) held in Lisbon, Portugal on 23 - 26 April 2022. ECCMID has become one of the most comprehensive and influential congresses in the field of infection and an exciting networking place bringing together more than 14,000 colleagues from all over the world.

At this year’s ECCMID, Alifax presented Alfred 60AST, the first fully automated system able to perform bacterial culture, RAA and susceptibility testing by automating the whole process of sample inoculation, reading and result transmission. Using the patented technology based on light scattering it is able to detect the presence of bacteria and their drug resistance in a few hours with high sensitivity and specificity. The CE - IVD Marked Alfred 60AST monitors the growth phases of bacteria from the inoculum step into specific culture broths providing real time growth curves and quantitative bacterial count results in CFU/ml.

Alifax also demonstrated HB&L, the first analyzer for bacterial culture and susceptibility testing in human biological fluids and urine. HB&L is the first analyser able to perform bacterial culture, RAA test and susceptibility testing on samples such as urine, sterile or non sterile fluids and other biological samples. Using the patented technology based on light scattering it is able to detect the presence of bacteria and their drug resistance in a few hours with high sensitivity and specificity.

Related Links:
Alifax S.r.l.

Visit expo >

New

Gold Member

Automatic Hematology Analyzer

CF9600

New

Gold Member

STI Test

Vivalytic MG, MH, UP/UU

New

Manual Pipetting Aid

Pipette Controllers macro

New

Hematology Consumables

Bioblood Devices

Latest ECCMID 2022 News

Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel

Blood Test Predicts Alzheimer Disease Risk Before Imaging Changes and Symptoms

Alzheimer's disease often advances silently for years, making timely risk stratification difficult in routine practice. Current approaches to detect pathology can involve lumbar puncture or positron emission... Read more

Image: ApoB is a blood test that counts the total number of harmful particles in circulation, providing a more complete assessment of risk (photo courtesy of Adobe Stock)

Study Finds ApoB Testing More Effective Than LDL for Guiding Lipid Therapy

Routine blood tests that measure low-density lipoprotein (LDL), commonly known as “bad” cholesterol, are widely used to guide lipid-lowering therapy, but they do not always provide a complete picture of... Read more

Image: Overview of the dual-mode xVFA optical sensor platform for multiplexed cardiac biomarker detection in point-of-care settings (Han, GR., Eryilmaz, M., Goncharov, A. et al. Light Sci Appl 15, 190 (2026). doi.org/10.1038/s41377-026-02275-9)

AI-Enabled POC Test Quantifies Multiple Cardiac Biomarkers

Cardiovascular diseases are a leading cause of death, responsible for nearly 20 million deaths each year. Timely triage of myocardial infarction and heart failure hinges on rapid cardiac biomarker measurement,... Read more

Next Generation Automated Analyzers Increase Throughput for Clinical Chemistry and Electrolyte Testing

Clinical laboratories continue to face staffing shortages, limited space, and growing test volumes that pressure chemistry and electrolyte workflows. Maintaining rapid turnaround times increasingly depends... Read more

Molecular Diagnostics

view channel

Blood-Based Epigenetic Signals Enable Osteosarcoma Disease Monitoring

Osteosarcoma is a rare but aggressive pediatric bone cancer where recurrence and metastasis remain difficult to detect early. Imaging-based surveillance can miss small lesions and exposes children to repeated... Read more

Host–Virus Genetic Interactions Drive Nasopharyngeal Cancer Risk

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infects more than 95% of adults worldwide, yet only a small fraction develops EBV‑associated cancers such as nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Explaining this divergence requires understanding... Read more

Image: NTU Assoc Prof Y.C. Chen (right) holding the new biochip, which can detect miRNA in 20 minutes using AI, with his PhD student Fu Bowen behind him (left) (photo courtesy of Nanyang Technological University)

AI-Enabled Biochip Detects microRNA Biomarkers in Minutes

Detecting circulating microRNAs, small RNA molecules linked to diverse diseases, is technically challenging because they are scarce and often share similar sequences. Conventional workflows based on PCR... Read more

Blood Test Detects Early Pancreatic Cancer in High-Risk Patients

Earlier identification of pancreatic cancer in individuals at elevated risk remains an urgent unmet need in oncology, with strong interest in noninvasive strategies. Blood-based assays that integrate multiple... Read more

Hematology

view channel

Routine Blood Test Parameters Link Anemia to Cancer Risk and Mortality

Anemia detected in routine care can signal underlying pathology and is frequently encountered in adults. Because it is defined by hemoglobin levels below the normal range, it is often evaluated with red... Read more

Prognostic Tool Guides Personalized Treatment in Rare Blood Cancer

Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) is a rare blood cancer in which acquired genetic mutations in bone marrow stem cells drive disease. Stem cell transplantation is the only curative option but carries... Read more

New Platelet Function Assay Enables Monitoring of Antiplatelet Therapy

Monitoring response to antiplatelet therapy remains challenging for many clinical laboratories. Aggregation-based assays and cartridge systems often require specialized personnel, dedicated instruments,... Read more

Open Multi-Omics Platform Identifies Prognostic Subtypes in Blood Cancers

Blood cancers encompass diverse entities whose biology and clinical behavior are best understood through integrative analyses across large cohorts. However, multi‑omic datasets and outcomes information... Read more

Immunology

view channel

Study Finds Influenza Often Undiagnosed in Winter Deaths

Seasonal influenza drives substantial excess mortality, yet its contribution is often obscured when infections go undiagnosed near the time of death. Many deaths occur outside hospitals or in older adults... Read more

Combined Screening Approach Identifies Early Leprosy Cases

Leprosy remains a significant public health concern, with more than 200,000 new cases reported globally each year and early disease often escaping routine laboratory detection. In its initial phase, bacterial... Read more

Image: Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteria seen with a scanning electron microscope (Credit: CDC PHIL)

Antibody Blood Test Identifies Active TB and Distinguishes Latent Infection

Active tuberculosis (TB) remains a leading cause of death and illness worldwide, yet distinguishing contagious disease from latent infection continues to challenge clinicians. Standard screening tools... Read more

FDA Approval Expands Use of PD-L1 Companion Diagnostic in Esophageal and GEJ Carcinomas

Esophageal and gastroesophageal junction carcinomas (GEJ) have a poor prognosis, with approximately 16,250 deaths in the United States in 2025 and a five-year relative survival of 21.9%.... Read more

Microbiology

view channel

Image: Professor Rajesh Ramanathan, from the Sir Ian Potter NanoBioSensing Facility and NanoBiotechnology Research Laboratory in RMIT’s School of Science, and Dr Pabudi Weerathunge examine colour changes during a laboratory test used to identify golden staph strains (photo courtesy of Will Wright, RMIT University)

Rapid Color Test Stratifies Virulent and Resistant Staph Strains

Staphylococcus aureus (golden staph) remains a leading cause of infection-related mortality worldwide, responsible for more than a million deaths each year. Rapidly distinguishing highly virulent or a... Read more

Syndromic Panel Enables Rapid Identification of Bloodstream Infections

Bloodstream infections require rapid identification of causative pathogens and resistance determinants to guide therapy, yet laboratories often face pressure to deliver clinically relevant results quickly... Read more

RNA-Based Workflow Identifies Active Skin Microbes for Dermatology Research

Human skin carries diverse microbial communities that influence barrier function and inflammation, yet identifying which organisms are metabolically active has been challenging. DNA-based surveys catalog... Read more

Cost-Effective Sampling and Sequencing Workflow Identifies ICU Infection Hotspots

Intensive care units face persistent threats from hospital-acquired infections, increasingly driven by drug-resistant bacteria. Rapidly pinpointing environmental reservoirs and transmission hotspots remains... Read more

Pathology

view channel

Biomarker Predicts Immunotherapy Response and Prognosis in Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer is common and often lethal, and therapeutic decision-making is complicated by heterogeneous tumor microenvironments. Immunotherapy benefits only a small subset of patients, around 5%,... Read more

Collaboration Applies AI Pathology to Predict Response to Antibody-Drug Conjugates

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) are reshaping oncology, yet scalable biomarkers that reliably predict which patients will benefit remain limited as treatment regimens and combinations grow more complex.... Read more

AI Improves Completeness of Complex Cancer Pathology Reports

Oncology teams increasingly rely on pathology reports that integrate histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and rapidly expanding biomarker testing. As patients live longer and undergo repeated analyses... Read more

AI Tool Predicts Chemotherapy Response in Small Cell Lung Cancer

Small cell lung cancer often presents at an extensive stage and progresses rapidly, leaving little time to tailor first-line therapy. Clinicians currently lack biomarkers to guide which patients will benefit... Read more

Technology

view channel

AI Tool Predicts Non-Response to Targeted Therapy in Colorectal Cancer

Advanced bowel cancer remains difficult to treat, and many patients receive targeted therapies that do not help them but still cause harm. Clinicians need reliable ways to identify likely responders before... Read more

Integrated System Streamlines Pre-Analytical Workflow for Molecular Testing

Pre-analytical variation remains a leading source of inconsistent molecular test results and added costs, particularly when laboratories rely on multiple instruments and protocols. Standardizing nucleic... Read more

Noninvasive Sputum Test Detects Early Lung Cancer

Early detection remains critical for improving outcomes in lung cancer, yet clinicians increasingly encounter indeterminate pulmonary nodules found incidentally or through screening, complicating decision-making.... Read more

Image: Graphical Abstract (Huiqian Hu et al., Med 7(3): 100966 (2026). DOI: 10.1016/j.medj.2025.100966)

New AI Tool Enables Rapid Treatment Selection in Pediatric Leukemia

Children with T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia face an aggressive disease that remains difficult to treat. Although remission rates have improved, many survivors experience long-term effects from intensive... Read more

Industry

view channel

Partnership Expands Ultrasensitive WGS Assay for for Hematologic Malignancies and MRD Monitoring

Tempus AI and Predicta Biosciences announced the commercial expansion of a co-branded whole‑genome sequencing assay GenoPredicta, which is intended for comprehensive genomic characterization of hematologic... Read more

QIAGEN Showcases Integrated Sample-to-Insight Oncology Solutions at AACR 2026

At the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2026, QIAGEN is presenting an expanded portfolio of Sample-to-Insight solutions designed to streamline oncology workflows from sample... Read more

Beckman Coulter Gains CE Mark for Rapid Assay Distinguishing Bacterial vs Viral Infections

Clinicians often struggle to distinguish bacterial from viral infections at first presentation because symptoms overlap and definitive culture or molecular results can take hours or days.... Read more

Junction, GRAIL Enable Scalable Access to Multi-Cancer Detection Test

Junction has announced a collaboration with GRAIL to enable broad access to the Galleri multi-cancer early detection (MCED) blood test across digital health platforms and clinical organizations.... Read more