Rapid Antimicrobial Susceptibility Test Returns Results within 30 Minutes
By LabMedica International staff writers Posted on 29 Nov 2023 |

In 2019, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was responsible for the deaths of approximately 1.3 million individuals. The conventional approach for testing antimicrobial susceptibility involves cultivating bacterial colonies with antibiotics, a process that is notably time-consuming, often taking several days to gauge bacterial resistance to a spectrum of antibiotics. This delay poses a significant challenge in urgent medical situations, like sepsis, where prompt treatment is crucial. As a result, clinicians are often compelled to either rely on their clinical judgment to prescribe specific antibiotics or administer a broad-spectrum antibiotic regimen. However, the use of ineffective antibiotics can exacerbate infections and potentially lead to increased AMR in the community. Now, researchers have reported significant progress in developing a rapid antimicrobial susceptibility test that can deliver results in as little as 30 minutes, marking a huge improvement over current standard methods.
A team of researchers from the University of Oxford (Oxford, UK) has created a method combining fluorescence microscopy with artificial intelligence (AI) to detect AMR. This technique involves training deep-learning models to scrutinize images of bacterial cells and identify structural changes when exposed to antibiotics. The method proved successful with various antibiotics, demonstrating a minimum accuracy of 80% on a per-cell analysis. The team applied this method to various clinical strains of E. coli, each exhibiting different resistance levels to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin. Impressively, the deep-learning models consistently and accurately identified antibiotic resistance, achieving results at least tenfold faster than current leading clinical methods.
With further development, this rapid testing method has the potential to enable more precise antibiotic treatments, reducing treatment durations, lessening side effects, and helping to curb the growth of AMR. The research team envisions future adaptations of this model for detecting resistance in clinical samples to a broader range of antibiotics. Their goal is to enhance the speed and scalability of this method for clinical application, as well as to modify it for use with various types of bacteria and antibiotics.
“Antibiotics that stop the growth of bacterial cells also change how cells look under a microscope, and affect cellular structures such as the bacterial chromosome,” said Achillefs Kapanidis, Professor of Biological Physics and Director of the Oxford Martin Program on Antimicrobial Resistance Testing. “Our AI-based approach detects such changes reliably and rapidly. Equally, if a cell is resistant, the changes we selected are absent, and this forms the basis for detecting antibiotic resistance.”
Related Links:
University of Oxford
Latest Pathology News
- AI Tool Enhances Interpretation of Tissue Samples by Pathologists
- AI-Assisted Technique Tracks Cells Damaged from Injury, Aging and Disease
- Novel Fluorescent Probe Shows Potential in Precision Cancer Diagnostics and Fluorescence-Guided Surgery
- New Lab Model to Help Find Treatments for Aggressive Blood Cancer
- AI-Supported Microscopy Improves Detection of Intestinal Parasite Infections
- AI Performs Virtual Tissue Staining at Super-Resolution
- AI-Driven Preliminary Testing for Pancreatic Cancer Enhances Prognosis
- Cancer Chip Accurately Predicts Patient-Specific Chemotherapy Response
- Clinical AI Solution for Automatic Breast Cancer Grading Improves Diagnostic Accuracy
- Saliva-Based Testing to Enable Early Detection of Cancer, Heart Disease or Parkinson’s
- Advances in Monkeypox Virus Diagnostics to Improve Management of Future Outbreaks
- Nanoneedle-Studded Patch Could Eliminate Painful and Invasive Biopsies
- AI Cancer Classification Tool to Drive Targeted Treatments
- AI-Powered Imaging Enables Faster Lung Disease Treatment
- New Laboratory Method Speeds Diagnosis of Rare Genetic Disease
- New Technology Autonomously Detects AI Hallucinations in Digital Pathology
Channels
Clinical Chemistry
view channel
New Clinical Chemistry Analyzer Designed to Meet Growing Demands of Modern Labs
A new clinical chemistry analyzer is designed to provide outstanding performance and maximum efficiency, without compromising affordability, to meet the growing demands of modern laboratories.... Read more
New Reference Measurement Procedure Standardizes Nucleic Acid Amplification Test Results
Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAATs) play a key role in diagnosing a wide range of infectious diseases. These tests are generally known for their high sensitivity and specificity, and they can be developed... Read moreMolecular Diagnostics
view channel
Newly-Cleared Technology a Game Changer for Diagnosis of Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is one of the fastest-growing infectious diseases, with approximately 476,000 cases diagnosed annually in the United States. The symptoms of Lyme disease, such as fever, headache, fatigue,... Read more
Innovative Liquid Biopsy Test Uses RNA to Detect Early-Stage Cancer
Detecting and diagnosing cancer, particularly in its early stages, remains a significant challenge. Liquid biopsies offer a promising non-invasive alternative to traditional biopsies, which require removing... Read moreHematology
view channel
Disposable Cartridge-Based Test Delivers Rapid and Accurate CBC Results
Complete Blood Count (CBC) is one of the most commonly ordered lab tests, crucial for diagnosing diseases, monitoring therapies, and conducting routine health screenings. However, more than 90% of physician... Read more
First Point-of-Care Heparin Monitoring Test Provides Results in Under 15 Minutes
Heparin dosing requires careful management to avoid both bleeding and clotting complications. In high-risk situations like extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), mortality rates can reach about 50%,... Read moreImmunology
view channel
World’s First Clinical Test Predicts Best Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic condition affecting 1 in 100 people in the UK today, causing the immune system to attack its joints. Unlike osteoarthritis, which is caused by wear and tear, RA can... Read more
Blood Test Detects Organ Rejection in Heart Transplant Patients
Following a heart transplant, patients are required to undergo surgical biopsies so that physicians can assess the possibility of organ rejection. Rejection happens when the recipient’s immune system identifies... Read more
Liquid Biopsy Approach to Transform Diagnosis, Monitoring and Treatment of Lung Cancer
Lung cancer continues to be a major contributor to cancer-related deaths globally, with its biological complexity and diverse regulatory processes making diagnosis and treatment particularly difficult.... Read more
Computational Tool Exposes Hidden Cancer DNA Changes Influencing Treatment Resistance
Structural changes in tumor DNA are among the most damaging genetic alterations in cancer, yet they often go undetected, particularly when tissue samples are degraded or of low quality. These hidden genomic... Read morePathology
view channel
AI Tool Enhances Interpretation of Tissue Samples by Pathologists
Malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer, is diagnosed by pathologists based on tissue samples. A crucial aspect of this process is estimating the presence of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), immune... Read more
AI-Assisted Technique Tracks Cells Damaged from Injury, Aging and Disease
Senescent cells, which stop growing and reproducing due to injury, aging, or disease, play a critical role in wound repair and aging-related diseases like cancer and heart disease. These cells, however,... Read more
Novel Fluorescent Probe Shows Potential in Precision Cancer Diagnostics and Fluorescence-Guided Surgery
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a common type of liver cancer, is difficult to diagnose early and accurately due to the limitations of current diagnostic methods. Glycans, carbohydrate structures present... Read moreTechnology
view channel
Low-Cost Biosensing Technology Detects Disease Biomarkers in Minutes
Rapid at-home tests for diseases like COVID-19 have become increasingly popular for their convenience, but they come with a major drawback: they are less sensitive than the tests performed in medical settings.... Read more
AI Tool Could Help Identify Specific Gut Bacterial Targets for Treatment of Diseases
The human body hosts trillions of bacteria, particularly in the gut, which have a significant role in digestion and various other aspects of health. These gut bacteria produce a variety of metabolites... Read moreIndustry
view channel
Quanterix Completes Acquisition of Akoya Biosciences
Quanterix Corporation (Billerica, MA, USA) has completed its previously announced acquisition of Akoya Biosciences (Marlborough, MA, USA), paving the way for the creation of the first integrated solution... Read more
Lunit and Microsoft Collaborate to Advance AI-Driven Cancer Diagnosis
Lunit (Seoul, South Korea) and Microsoft (Redmond, WA, USA) have entered into a collaboration to accelerate the delivery of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered healthcare solutions. In conjunction with... Read more