title: Evaluation of an Image Analysis Device (APAS) for Screening Urine Cultures.
abstract: While advancements have been made in some areas of pathology with diagnostic materials being screened using image analysis technologies, the reporting of cultures from agar plates remains a manual process. We compared the results for 2,163 urine cultures read by a reference panel of microbiologists, by the routine laboratory process, and by an automated plate reading system, APAS (LBT Innovations Ltd., South Australia). APAS detected colonies with a sensitivity of 99.1% and a specificity of 99.3% on blood agar, while on MacConkey agar, the colony detection sensitivity was 99.4% with a specificity of 99.3%. The device's ability to enumerate growth had an accuracy of 89.2%, and the morphological identification of colonies showed a high level of performance for the colony types typical of Escherichia coli and other enteric bacilli. On blood agar, lactose-fermenting colonies were morphologically identified with a sensitivity of 98.9%, while on MacConkey agar they were identified with a sensitivity of 99.2%. In this first clinical evaluation, APAS demonstrated high performance in the detection, enumeration, and colony classification of isolates compared with that for conventional plate-reading methods. The device found all cases reported by the laboratory and detected the most commonly encountered organisms found in urinary tract infections.
authors.affiliation: LBT Innovations Ltd., Adelaide, South Australia john@lbtinnovations.com.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Glasson
authors.affiliation: Australian Centre for Visual Technologies, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia.
authors.forename: Rhys
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: LBT Innovations Ltd., Adelaide, South Australia.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Summerford
authors.affiliation: Healthscope Pathology, Wayville, South Australia.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Giglio
mesh_terms: D058491:Bacterial Load / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D016482:Urinalysis / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*