114 results about "Blood culture" patented technology

The present invention is directed to a method for separating, characterizing and / or identifying microorganisms in a test sample. The method of the invention comprises an optional lysis step for lysing non-microorganism cells that may be present in a test sample, followed by a subsequent separation step. The method may be useful for the separation, characterization and / or identification of microorganisms from complex samples such as blood-containing culture media. The invention further provides for the use of one or more identifier agents and interrogating the microorganism sample and / or said one or more identifier agents to produce measurements which characterizing and / or identifying the microorganism based on the produced measurements and / or the presence or absence of the identifier agent or a metabolized form of the identifier agent in the microorganism sample.

The invention mainly relates to the mass spectrometric identification of pathogens in blood cultures from blood-stream infections (septicemia). The invention provides a method with which microbial pathogens can be separated in purified form from blood after a relatively brief cultivation in a blood culture flask, without any interfering human proteins or any residual fractions of blood particles such as erythrocytes and leukocytes, and can be directly identified by mass spectrometric measurement of their protein profiles. The method is based on the use of relatively strong tensides to destroy the blood particles by dissolving the weak cell membranes and most of the internal structures of the blood particles; in spite of the fact that tensides are regarded as strong ionization inhibitors in MALDI and other ionization processes required for mass spectrometric measurements. This method allows unknown pathogens to be obtained in their pure form by centrifuging or filtration and to be identified on the taxonomic level of species or subspecies. Problems with DNA from high levels of leukocytes can be resolved by special measures. After sufficient cultivation, the identification in a mass spectrometric laboratory takes only half an hour.

A sample is tested for the presence of bacteria, such as in an automatic blood culturing apparatus. If bacteria are determined to be present, a bacteriophage-based bacteria identification process is performed to identify the bacteria present. A plurality of bacteria detection processes, such as a blood culture test and Gram stain test may be carried out prior to the bacteria identification process. A bacteriophage-based antibiotic resistance test or antibiotic susceptibility test is also conducted on the sample.

The invention relates to methods and instruments for the rapid detection and rapid mass spectrometric identification of microbial infective agents in blood or other body fluids. The invention recognizes that blood is not a good environment for the cultivation of microbes and provides a method which (a) largely destroys or dissolves the human particles in body fluids, such as erythrocytes and leukocytes in blood, without impairing the ability of the microbes to reproduce, (b) separates the microbial pathogens from the fluid, (c) cultivates them in a nutrient broth which contains none of the antimicrobial components of the body fluids, (d) separates them from the nutrient broth, and (e) identifies the microbes by a mass spectrum of the microbial proteins. The dissolution of the human particles also releases the microbes nesting in macrophages. The cultivation in an optically clear nutrient broth with optimum composition not only accelerates the propagation of the microbes compared to all other cultivation methods, but also makes it possible to continuously measure their quantitative growth starting from a low microbe density. This firstly allows the mass spectrometric identification to be carried out at the earliest possible time, secondly provides a positive detection of microbes far ahead of their identification, which can be lifesaving for the patient; and thirdly makes it possible to start the determination of resistances early.