System and method for analyzing antibiotic susceptibility of biological samples

A computer-readable medium of instructions for controlling a sample analyzing system to analyze a sample contained in at least one sample well, comprising:

• a first set of instructions, adapted to control said system to direct a plurality of different analyzing light wavelengths onto said sample contained in said sample well;
• a second set of instructions, adapted to control said system to detect a respective resultant light wavelength emanating from said sample for each of said analyzing light wavelengths directed onto said sample, and to provide a result value representative of each respective resultant light wavelength;
• and
• a third set of instructions, adapted to control said system to mathematically combine said result values to provide at least two growth indicator values, each representing a respective growth characteristics of said sample.

A method for determining at least one minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value for a sample contained in a sample container, said sample container including a plurality of sample wells, each containing a portion of said sample and a respective material adapted to affect growth of said sample, said method comprising the steps of:

• taking a respective set of readings of each respective sample well at each of a plurality of intervals of time to provide a respective set of values for each respective sample well at each of said intervals;
• for each of said sample wells, mathematically combining said respective sets of values to provide a respective well characteristic value for each of said sample wells;
• grouping said sample well characteristic values into a plurality of groups representative of respective groups of said sample wells;
• and
• comparing said sample well characteristic values to each other in each of said respective groups to determine a respective MIC value for each of said groups of sample wells.

A computer-readable medium of instructions for controlling a sample analyzing system to determine at least one minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value for a sample contained in a sample container, said sample container including a plurality of sample wells, each containing a portion of said sample and a respective material adapted to affect growth of said sample, said computer-readable medium of instructions comprising:

• a first set of instructions, adapted to control said system to take a respective set of readings of each respective sample well at each of a plurality of intervals of time to provide a respective set of values for each respective sample well at each of said intervals;
• a second set of instructions, adapted to control said system to, for each of said sample wells, mathematically combine said respective sets of values to provide a respective well characteristic value for each of said sample wells;
• a third set of instructions, adapted to control said system to group said sample well characteristic values into a plurality of groups representative of respective groups of said sample wells;
• and
• a fourth set of instructions, adapted to control said system to compare said sample well characteristic values to each other in each of said respective groups to determine a respective MIC value for each of said groups of sample wells.