Rapid determination of microbial growth and antimicrobial susceptibility

1. A method comprising:

introducing a patient sample comprising a viable microorganism into a microfluidic flow cell having a detection surface;

retaining the microorganism on the detection surface of the microfluidic flow cell, thereby producing a retained microorganism;

introducing a gel medium into the microfluidic flow cell, wherein the gel medium is in contact with the retained microorganism following introduction into the microfluidic flow cell;

immobilizing via the gel medium the retained microorganism in the microfluidic flow cell at the same location where the microorganism is retained, to produce an immobilized microorganism, wherein offspring of the immobilized microorganism remain over time at a location with the immobilized microorganism; and

incubating the immobilized microorganism for a first time period, wherein the first time period comprises a first time and a second time.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gel medium is introduced into the microfluidic flow cell as a liquid gel medium.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising gelling the liquid gel medium to produce a solid gel medium.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the liquid gel medium further comprises an antibiotic.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detection surface further comprises a hydrogel.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gel medium comprises an agar gel.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

quantifying an attribute of the immobilized microorganism with a computer-based system configured to detect individual immobilized microorganisms and to calculate attribute data.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising determining, by the computer-based system, a first value of the attribute at the first time and a second value of the attribute at the second time.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising determining, by the computer-based system, a growth rate of the immobilized microorganism based on a change in the attribute from the first time to the second time.

10. The method of claim 7 , further comprising:

transmitting the attribute data to a healthcare information system; and

processing the attribute data into care recommendations for the patient who provided the sample.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the immobilized microorganism undergoes from about 1 to about 4 doubling events during the first time period.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the immobilized microorganism is a bacterium.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the bacterium is Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Staphylococcus aureus.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the microorganism is an individuated microorganism.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the patient sample is a bodily fluid.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the bodily fluid is blood, urine, serum, lymph, saliva, anal secretion, vaginal secretion, perspiration, peritoneal fluid, pleural fluid, effusion, ascites, purulent secretion, lavage fluid, drained fluid, brush cytology specimen, biopsy tissue, explanted medical device, infected catheter, pus, biofilm, or semen.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the patient sample is milk or a respiratory sample.