Pathogen and antimicrobial resistance testing

1. An insertable cartridge for being received in a slot of a sample analysis device for analysis of a sample, said cartridge comprising:

at least one pipette tip;

a plurality of vessels;

a support frame with openings for holding said vessels and said at least one pipette tip;

at least a first of said vessels containing an antimicrobial;

at least a second of said vessels containing a microorganism growth medium;

at least a third of said vessels containing at least one reagent selected from the group consisting of: a metabolic indicator, a reagent for a nucleic acid amplification reaction, and a reagent for a nucleic acid probe-based assay;

at least a first opening for holding a first type of sample vessel; and

at least a second opening for holding a second type of sample vessel different from the first type of sample vessel;

wherein at least one of said vessels is detachable from the support frame;

a microscopy cuvette coupled to said support frame;

a cap-removal tip coupled to said support frame; and

reagent in said vessels to support at least another type of assay different from nucleic acid amplification, said another type of assay selected from the following: metabolic/biochemical assay, immunoassay, or cytometry;

wherein said support frame is configured to engage a matching slot at a cartridge receiving location in the sample processing device, and wherein the cartridge is ejectable from the sample processing device after assay processing.

2. The cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the first type of sample vessel further comprises the sample.

3. The cartridge of claim 2 , wherein the sample is a blood sample obtained from a subject.

4. The cartridge of claim 3 , wherein the blood sample obtained from the subject is about 500 μl or less.

5. The cartridge of claim 1 , wherein the at least one reagent is the metabolic indicator.

6. The cartridge of claim 5 , wherein the metabolic indicator is resazurin.

7. A system for analysis of a sample, comprising:

an insertable cartridge comprising:

at least one pipette tip;

a plurality of vessels;

a support frame for holding said vessels and said at least one pipette tip;

at least a first of said vessels containing an antimicrobial;

at least a second of said vessels containing a microorganism growth medium;

at least a third of said vessels containing at least one reagent selected from the group consisting of: a metabolic indicator, a reagent for a nucleic acid amplification reaction, and a reagent for a nucleic acid probe-based assay;

at least a first opening for holding a first type of sample vessel; and

at least a second opening for holding a second type of sample vessel different from the first type of sample vessel; and

a microscopy cuvette coupled to said support frame;

a cap-removal tip coupled to said support frame; and

reagent in said vessels to support at least another type of assay different from nucleic acid amplification, said another type of assay selected from the following: metabolic/biochemical assay, immunoassay, or cytometry;

a sample processing device for receiving the cartridge, wherein the sample processing device comprises a fluid handling system and at least one detector, wherein the cartridge is configured to engage a matching slot at a cartridge receiving location in the sample processing device, and wherein the cartridge is configured to be ejected from the sample processing device when done.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the sample is a blood sample obtained from a subject.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the blood sample obtained from the subject is about 500 μl or less.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the at least one reagent is the metabolic indicator.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the metabolic indicator is selected from resazurin, 5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride (CTC), carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFDA-SE), and luciferin.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the metabolic indicator is resazurin.

13. An insertable cartridge for being received in a slot of a sample analysis device for analysis of a sample, said cartridge comprising:

at least one pipette tip;

a plurality of vessels;

a support frame with openings for holding said vessels and said at least one pipette tip;

at least a first of said vessels containing an antimicrobial;

at least a second of said vessels containing a microorganism growth medium;

at least a third of said vessels containing at least one reagent selected from the group consisting of: a metabolic indicator, a reagent for a nucleic acid amplification reaction, and a reagent for a nucleic acid probe-based assay;

at least a first opening for holding a first type of sample vessel; and

at least a second opening for holding a second type of sample vessel different from the first type of sample vessel;

wherein at least one of said vessels is detachable from the support frame;

a microscopy cuvette coupled to said support frame;

a cap-removal tip coupled to said support frame; and

reagent in said vessels to support at least another type of assay different from nucleic acid amplification, said another type of assay selected from the following: metabolic/biochemical assay, immunoassay, or cytometry;

wherein said support frame is configured to engage a matching slot at a cartridge receiving location in the sample processing device, and wherein the cartridge is ejectable from the sample processing device after assay processing;

wherein the metabolic indicator is selected from one of the following: 5-cyano-2,3-ditolyl tetrazolium chloride (CTC), carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFDA-SE), or luciferin.