Methods and systems for automated assessment of antibiotic sensitivity

A non-transitory computer medium containing programming instructions that when executed by a processor control the processor for antibiotic susceptibility testing, wherein the program instructions control the processor to perform the method of:

• storing, in a memory, information associated with a culture plate for antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) inoculated with a biological sample, the culture plate having culture media having a plurality of antibiotic disks disposed thereon, each disk comprising a marker, the information selected from one or more of the group consisting of i) a location of the culture plate in a system for imaging or incubating the culture plate, ii) a type of antibiotic on at least one antibiotic disk of the plurality of antibiotic disks, iii) a bacteria type suspected to be present in the biological sample, v) type of culture media, vi) incubation time, and vii) handling information;
• receiving first and second image data of the culture plate generated with an image sensor, the first image data and second image data respectively representing first and second captured images of the culture plate having the plurality of antibiotic disks thereon, the first and second captured images taken at separate times, wherein the first image data is background image data;
• generating pixel characteristic data for pixels of the second image data from a comparison of the first image data and the second image data, the pixel characteristic data indicative of microbial growth on the culture plate over time;
• accessing growth modeling data for microbial growth from the memory, wherein the growth modeling data models microbial growth for combinations of culture media, microorganisms, antibiotic, antibiotic concentration on at least one of the plurality of antibiotic disks and in the culture media wherein the antibiotic concentration in the culture media is a function of antibiotic concentration on the antibiotic disk, time and a distance from the antibiotic disk;
• generating simulated image data with a growth model function, the growth model function using the growth modeling data, the simulated image data simulating microbial growth on the inoculated culture plate based on the information associated with the culture plate stored in the memory;
• and comparing the simulated image data and the pixel characteristic data and identifying one or more pixel regions of the second image data that differ from one or more pixel regions of the simulated image data.

A system for antibiotic susceptibility testing comprising:

• an image sensor configured to capture images of a culture plate for antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST) on which is disposed culture media with at least one antibiotic disk disposed thereon, each disk comprising a marker, wherein the culture plate is inoculated with a biological sample wherein the culture plate is within a field of view of the image sensor;
• a processor coupled with the image sensor;
• and
• a computer medium containing programming instructions that when executed by the processor control the processor for testing antibiotic susceptibility, wherein the program instructions control the processor to perform the method of:
• storing, in a memory, information associated with the culture plate, the information selected from one or more of the group consisting of:
• i) a location of the culture plate in a system for imaging or incubating the culture plate, ii) a type of antibiotic on the at least one antibiotic disk, iii) a bacteria type suspected to be present in the biological sample, v) type of culture media, vi) incubation time, and vii) handling information;
• receiving first and second image data of the culture plate generated with an image sensor, the first image data and second image data respectively representing first and second captured images of the culture plate having the at least one antibiotic disk thereon, the first and second captured images taken at separate times, wherein the first image data is background image data;
• generating pixel characteristic data for pixels of the second image data from a comparison of the first image data and the second image data, the pixel characteristic data indicative of microbial growth on the culture plate over time;
• accessing growth modeling data for microbial growth from the memory, wherein the growth modeling data models microbial growth for combinations of culture media, microorganisms, antibiotic, antibiotic concentration on at least one of a plurality of antibiotic disks and in the culture media wherein the antibiotic concentration in the culture media is a function of antibiotic concentration on the antibiotic disk, time and a distance from the antibiotic disk;
• generating simulated image data with a growth model function, the growth model function using the growth modeling data, the simulated image data simulating microbial growth on the inoculated culture plate based on the information associated with the culture plate stored in the memory;
• and
• comparing the simulated image data and the pixel characteristic data and identifying one or more pixel regions of the second image data that differ from one or more pixel regions of the simulated image data.

A system for antibiotic susceptibility testing comprising:

• an image sensor configured to capture images of a culture plate on which is disposed culture media with a plurality of antibiotic disks disposed thereon, wherein the culture plate is inoculated with a biological sample when the culture plate is within a field of view of the image sensor, the image sensor generating first image data and second image data, the first image data and second image data respectively representing first and second captured images of the culture plate including the plurality of antibiotic disks, the first and second captured images taken at different times;
• a processor and a memory, the processor configured to receive the first image data and second image data and access the memory, the memory storing information associated with the culture plate, the information selected from one or more of the group consisting of:
• i) a location of the culture plate in a system for imaging or incubating the culture plate, ii) a type of antibiotic on at least one antibiotic disk of the plurality of antibiotic disks, iii) a bacteria type suspected to be present in the biological sample, v) type of culture media, vi) incubation time, and vii) handling information;
• wherein the processor is configured to:
• receive the first image data and the second image data,
• generate pixel characteristic data for pixels of the second image data from a comparison of the first image data and the second image data, the pixel characteristic data indicative of microbial growth on the culture plate;
• access the information associated with the culture plate from the memory, wherein the information associated with the culture plate is used to model microbial growth as a function of culture media, microorganism, antibiotic and antibiotic concentration;
• generate simulated image data with a growth model function retrieved from the memory, the growth model function using the modeled microbial growth as a function of culture media, microorganism, antibiotic and antibiotic concentration, the simulated image data simulating microbial growth on the culture plate in relation to at least one disk of the plurality of antibiotic disks;
• and
• compare the simulated image data and the pixel characteristic data to identify one or more pixel regions of the second image data that differ from the simulated image data.