| 摘要 |
A method is disclosed for performing a plurality of microbiological tests in any order or at the same time, and within the same instrument. The method includes performing microbiological detection and/or enumeration testing, wherein one or more test samples are added to respective detection plates, each of the plates are placed on or within a holder of the instrument and incubated in the instrument, and during and/or after incubation, each plate is imaged by an imaging device in the instrument in order to determine whether and/or how many microorganism colonies are present. The method also includes performing susceptibility and/or identification testing of microorganisms, wherein if susceptibility testing is performed, one or more samples containi ng microorganisms are added to respective susceptibility plates before or after one or more antibiotics are added to the plate, each of the plates is placed on or within a holder of the instrument and incubated in the instrument, and each plate is imaged by an imaging device the same as or different as the imaging device of step (a) to determine whether and/or the extent of microorganism growth inhibition, and if identification testing is performed, one or more samples containing microorganisms are added to respective identification plates containing substrates for microorganisms, each of said plates is placed on or within a holder of the instrument and incubated in th e instrument, and each plate is imaged by an imaging device the same as or different as the imaging devices in steps (a) and/or (b) to classify and/or identify the microorganism(s) on each plate. The figure shows a block diagra m of the main components of the multifunctional instrument. |
