Combined rapid susceptibility assay and microorganism identification system

1. A method for high throughput concurrent microorganism identification and antimicrobial susceptibility testing comprising:

a) inoculating one or more clear plastic panels having a plurality of wells with a sample to be tested for microorganism identification and antimicrobial susceptibility, wherein the one or more panels comprise a plastic microtiter plate having an opaque top surface and clear plastic wells for determining a microorganism's identification and a microorganism's susceptibility to at least one antimicrobial agent;

wherein the plurality of wells comprises at least one growth well, at least one minimum-inhibitory concentration (MIC) antimicrobial test well, and at least one control well;

wherein for microorganism identification, the at least one growth well contains an assay reagent, which when acted upon by a microorganism, is indicative of a microorganism family, genus and/or species;

wherein for antimicrobial susceptibility testing, the at least one MIC antimicrobial test well contains an antimicrobial agent;

b) placing the inoculated one or more clear plastic panels into an apparatus that maintains the inoculated one or more clear plastic panels at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time;

c) incubating the inoculated one or more clear plastic panels in the apparatus at the predetermined temperature for a first predetermined time;

d) at a second predetermined time, performing a bichromatic collection process comprising:

i) transmitting a visible light wavelength through the at least one growth well,

ii) transmitting a fluorescent light wavelength through the at least one growth well using a read frame having a width optimized for use with clear plastic wells, wherein the visible light wavelength and the fluorescent light wavelength are distinct,

iii) collecting resulting visible light signals from the at least one growth well and converting the resultant visible light signals into a growth well turbidity reading, and

iv) collecting resultant fluorescent light signals from the at least one growth well using the read frame and converting the resultant fluorescent light signals into a growth well fluorescent reading;

e) determining the identity of the microorganism from the growth well turbidity reading and the growth well fluorescent reading;

f) determining the susceptibility of the microorganism to the antimicrobial agent in each of the at least one MIC antimicrobial test well by performing the following steps for each respective MIC antimicrobial test well:

i) setting read times for turbidity;

ii) setting thresholds for well growth;

iii) at a first read time, determining if a respective control well has growth;

iv) if the answer to iii) is yes, then recording a first turbidity reading from the respective control well and returning the plate to incubation;

v) if the answer to iii) is no, then returning the plate to incubation;

repeating steps vi)-viii) until a maximum read time is reached:

vi) at a next read time, determining if the respective control well has growth;

vii) if answer to vi) is yes, then recording a second turbidity reading from the respective control well and if the second turbidity reading is higher than the first turbidity reading and the second turbidity reading reached a first threshold for well growth, then recording the respective control well as growth;

viii) if the answer to vi) is no, then returning the plate to incubation;

ix) if the respective control well was recorded as growth in step vii), then determining if the respective MIC antimicrobial test well if has growth;

x) if the answer to ix) is yes, then determining and recording the turbidity of a respective growth well and the respective MIC antimicrobial test well and determine a ratio of turbidity of the respective MIC antimicrobial test well to turbidity of the respective growth well;

xi) if the ratio of step x) exceeds a threshold ratio level, then returning the plate to incubation;

xii) if the ratio of step x) is less than the threshold ratio level, then recording the concentration of the antimicrobial agent in the respective MIC antimicrobial test well as the minimum inhibitory concentration;

xiii) recording the turbidity of the respective growth well and the turbidity of the respective antimicrobial test well at a maximum read time;

xiv) reporting the recorded results and determining the susceptibility of the microorganism to the antimicrobial agent according to the reported results.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the assay reagent is a growth requirement for a particular microorganism.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the growth requirement is growth media specific for yeast, anaerobic bacteria, or fastidious bacteria.

4. The method of claim 2 wherein the growth well turbidity reading and the MIC antimicrobial test well turbidity reading are increased compared to a control well when the microorganism uses the growth requirement.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the assay reagent is a substrate for an enzyme that is unique to a microorganism family, genus, and/or species.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein when the substrate is acted upon by the enzyme in a particular microorganism, a fluorescently detectable product is detected in step d).