ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the challenge to automation presented by microbiology and presents the approaches which appear to be most promising, with emphasis on commercially available devices. It also discusses points to consider before acquiring automated instruments and attempts to project the future of automated microbiology. The standard method for determining antimicrobial susceptibility is a plate disk-diffusion method referred to as Kirby-Bauer (or Bauer-Kirby). It is important to note that the disk-diffusion method was developed for us with fresh isolates of rapidly growing, commonly isolated, aerobes, such as the Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Pseudomones aeruginosa. It is generally thought desirable to directly determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for an isolate/antibiotic rather than express the sensitivity in terms of sensitive-intermediate-resistant. MIC determination has been recommended in certain clinical situations including endocarditis, other serious Group D streptococci infections, infections with slow-growing or fastidious organisms, recurrent infections with the same pathogens, or infections in which the disk-diffusion method is inadequate.
