Automated detection of Mycobacterial growth on 96-well plates for rapid and accurate Tuberculosis drug susceptibility testing

Abstract

Both liquid and solid culture-media based methods for drug susceptibility testing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are slow, labour-intensive, expensive, and not fully standardised for all drugs. Microtitre plates have the potential to reduce cost and improve throughput. We have designed a 96-well microtitre plate containing serial dilutions of 14 anti-tuberculosis drugs, and two control wells. Such plates have hitherto required reading by experienced operators; here we present some software, the Automated Mycobacterial Growth Detection Algorithm (AMyGDA), that identifies which wells in the plate contain bacterial growth, thereby elucidating the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs). We demonstrate that AMyGDA is consistent, and that the MICs measured are comparable to a reference method.