Evaluation of bacterial growth and antibiotic sensitivity in blood cultures using selected ion flow tube mass spectrometry

摘要

Disclosed is a method of identifying a microorganism and determining the susceptibility of the microorganism to an antimicrobial agent by inserting a sample of the microorganism in a primary culture container and allowing the microorganism to multiply. The primary culture is then divided into a plurality of secondary cultures and the metabolic volatile or semi-volatile compounds (VCs) in the headspace above the cultures are analysed by SIFT-MS to ascertain whether micro-organisms exist in the culture and determine the type of micro-organism. The secondary cultures are then divided into a number of tertiary cultures and an antimicrobial agent is introduced whereupon the VCs in the headspace above the tertiary cultures are analysed by SIFT-MS to determine the susceptibility of the microorganism to the antimicrobial agent at various concentrations of the antimicrobial agent.