Digital antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the MilliDrop technology

Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2016 Mar;35(3):415-22. doi: 10.1007/s10096-015-2554-z. Epub 2016 Jan 23.

Abstract

We present the MilliDrop Analyzer (MDA), a droplet-based millifluidic system for digital antimicrobial susceptibility testing (D-AST), which enables us to determine minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) precisely and accurately. The MilliDrop technology was validated by using resazurin for fluorescence readout, for comparison with standard methodology, and for conducting reproducibility studies. In this first assessment, the susceptibility of a reference Gram-negative strain Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 to gentamicin, chloramphenicol, and nalidixic acid were tested by the MDA, VITEK®2, and broth microdilution as a reference standard. We measured the susceptibility of clinically relevant Gram-positive strains of Staphylococcus aureus to vancomycin, including vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (VISA), heterogeneous vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus (hVISA), and vancomycin-susceptible S. aureus (VSSA) strains. The MDA provided results which were much more accurate than those of VITEK®2 and standard broth microdilution. The enhanced accuracy enabled us to reliably discriminate between VSSA and hVISA strains.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Infective Agents / pharmacology*
  • Humans
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests / instrumentation
  • Microbial Sensitivity Tests / methods*
  • Miniaturization / instrumentation
  • Miniaturization / methods

Substances

  • Anti-Infective Agents