Performing antimicrobial susceptibility testing and related systems and methods

A method for performing multi-assay rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing sequences, the method comprising:

• inoculating a sample comprising a microorganism derived from a clinical sample into a plurality of wells of a test panel, at least a portion of the plurality of wells containing one or more antimicrobials of a plurality of antimicrobials for inoculation of the sample and (ii) a plurality of control wells of said test panel;
• loading the test panel into an automated rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing system for performing a multi-assay testing sequence, wherein the wells and control wells are each arranged in one or both of rows and columns within the test panel, and the test panel lies in a horizontal plane within the antimicrobial susceptibility testing system;
• and
• operating the testing system to:
• move the loaded test panel to an incubation assembly comprising a nest assembly adapted to:
• i) house at least one test panel, ii) allow a fluid processing system access to deliver and withdraw fluid to the wells of each test panel, and iii) facilitate incubation of one or more test panels in order to undergo the multi-assay testing sequence;
• incubate the inoculated sample in the incubation assembly;
• periodically measure an amount of sample growth in a plurality of control wells of the plurality of wells by a checkpoint assay;
• responsive to determining that a level of growth in the control wells meets or exceeds a threshold level of growth, stop incubation;
• perform one or more end point assays on incubated samples in the test panel and in a second plurality of control wells, wherein the checkpoint assay and the one or more end point assays are performed on different wells of the test panel, and wherein at least one of the one or more end point assays comprise a different type of interrogation than the checkpoint assay;
• move the loaded test panel to a centrifugation subsystem configured to receive a plurality of loaded test panels;
• centrifuge the loaded test panel;
• measure an optical output from the sample in the plurality of wells of the test panel, the optical output corresponding to an amount of the microorganism remaining in each of the plurality of wells;
• and
• report at least one of:
• a minimum inhibitory concentration of and/or a qualitative susceptibility interpretation for the microorganism remaining in each of the plurality of wells and the plurality of antimicrobials.

A method for performing multi-assay rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing sequences, the method comprising:

• inoculating a sample comprising a microorganism derived from a clinical sample into a plurality of wells of a test panel, at least a portion of the plurality of wells containing one or more antimicrobials of a plurality of antimicrobials for inoculation of the sample and (ii) a plurality of control wells of said test panel;
• loading the test panel into an automated rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing system for performing a multi-assay testing sequence, wherein the antimicrobial wells and control wells are each arranged in one or both of rows and columns within the test panel, and the test panel lies in a horizontal plane within the antimicrobial susceptibility testing system;
• and
• operating the testing system to:
• move the loaded test panel to an incubation assembly comprising a nest assembly adapted to:
• i) house at least one test panel, ii) allow a fluid processing system access to deliver and withdraw fluid to the wells of each test panel, and iii) facilitate incubation of one or more test panels in order to undergo the multi-assay testing sequence;
• incubate the inoculated sample in the incubation assembly;
• periodically measure an amount of sample growth in a first subset of the plurality of wells by a checkpoint assay;
• responsive to determining that a level of growth in said first subset of the plurality of wells meets or exceeds a threshold level of growth, stop incubation;
• perform one or more end point assays on incubated samples in a second subset of the plurality of wells and control wells, wherein at least one of the one or more end point assays comprise a different type of interrogation than the checkpoint assay;
• move the loaded test panel to a centrifugation subsystem configured to receive a plurality of loaded test panels;
• centrifuge the loaded test panel;
• measure an optical output from the second subset of the plurality of wells, the optical output corresponding to an amount of the microorganism remaining in each of the plurality of wells;
• and
• report at least one of:
• a minimum inhibitory concentration of and/or a qualitative susceptibility interpretation for the microorganism remaining in each of the plurality of wells and the plurality of antimicrobials.