Wasplab

The objective of this study was to assess the clinical performances of PhenoMATRIX and PhenoMATRIX PLUS for the screening of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from nasal and inguinal/perineal ESwabs using chromogenic media. The automated performances were compared to the manual reading. Additionally, we evaluated PhenoMATRIX PLUS for the automatic release of the negative results to the Laboratory Information System (LIS) and the automatic discharge of the negative plates from the incubators...

BACKGROUND: Laboratory Automation (LA) is an innovative technology that is currently available for microbiology laboratories. LA can be a game changer by revolutionizing laboratory workflows through efficiency improvement and is also effective in the organization and standardization of procedures, enabling staff requalification. It can provide an important return on investment (time spent redefining the workflow as well as direct costs of instrumentation) in the medium to long term. METHODS: Here, we present our experience with the WASPLab® system introduced in our lab during the COVID-19 pandemic...

Clinical diagnostic laboratories produce one product-information-and for this to be valuable, the information must be clinically relevant, accurate, and timely. Although diagnostic information can clearly improve patient outcomes and decrease healthcare costs, technological challenges and laboratory workflow practices affect the timeliness and clinical value of diagnostics. This article will examine how prioritizing laboratory practices in a patient-oriented approach can be used to optimize technology advances for improved patient care...

It is generally accepted that microorganisms can colonize a non-pathological endometrium. However, in a clinical setting, endometrial samples are always collected by passing through the vaginal-cervical route. As such, the vaginal and cervical microbiomes can easily cross-contaminate endometrial samples, resulting in a biased representation of the endometrial microbiome. This makes it difficult to demonstrate that the endometrial microbiome is not merely a reflection of contamination originating from sampling...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the Copan Colibrí™ against the manual preparation of the MALDI targets. We analyzed 416 (31 different species) non-duplicate strains covering the most important species identified in clinical routine. We also assessed the intra-strain repeatability between the comparable methods. We then analyzed the performance of this new method after implementation in routine on 12,253 aerobic bacterial isolates and yeasts, encompassing a total of 42 different species...

The microbiome of the reproductive tract has been associated with (sub)fertility and it has been suggested that dysbiosis reduces success rates and pregnancy outcomes. The endometrial microbiome is of particular interest given the potential impact on the embryo implantation. To date, all endometrial microbiome studies have applied a metagenomics approach. A sequencing-based technique, however, has its limitations, more specifically in adequately exploring low-biomass settings, such as intra-uterine/endometrial samples...

Genital disorders, such as vulvo-vaginal candidiasis (VVC), bacterial vaginosis (BV), and aerobic vaginitis (AV), are very common among fertile women and negatively impact their reproductive and relational life. Vaginal culture can help in the diagnostic workflow of these conditions. Recently, culture-based techniques have taken advantages of up-front specimen processing units, which also include a digital imaging system to record images of plates at programmable time points. In this proof-of-concept study, we assessed the characteristics of digital plate images of vaginal swabs plated by WASPLab system into different media, in order to detect microbial growth morphotypes specific for each genital disorder...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and robustness of a fully automated EUCAST RAST (rapid antimicrobial susceptibility test) directly from positive blood culture and to appreciate its implementation constraints. This study was conducted in two phases: (i) spiked blood culture bottles (BCs) using 779 non-duplicate clinical isolates and (ii) a prospective clinical trial including 534 positive BCs sequentially processed in routine at the Bacteriology Laboratory of Geneva University Hospitals...

Recently, Copan (Italy) introduced the Colibrí instrument for automated colony picking and preparation of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight (MALDI-TOF) target plates. Our study aimed to validate this system for yeasts as such testing has not been performed yet and is a missing link needed to implement the system for routine use. Fifty-five Candida strains were selected to evaluate the accuracy of Colibrí. For each strain, a sheep blood agar plate supplemented with X and V factors (HEM) and a Sabouraud agar plate (SAB) were inoculated and incubated using the WASPlab specimen processing system (Copan)...

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We assessed the performance of PhenoMatrix digital imaging software in detection of Group B Streptococcus from recto-vaginal swabs plated on a specific chromogenic medium, using the WASP automated processor. PhenoMatrix algorithm showed a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 64.5%. False-positive results were mainly due to commensal viridans streptococci.

Using computerized time-stamps, we compared the turnaround-times (TAT) for urine samples and screening ESwabs of MRSA, VRE, and ESBL carriage in the bacteriology laboratory of Geneva University Hospitals between January and December 2017 (period preceding the implementation of the WASPLabTM ) with the same specimen types analyzed between January and December 2019 (period after the implementation of the automation). During both 1-year periods, a total of 98'380 specimens were analyzed (48'158 in 2017 vs. 50'222 in 2019)...

OBJECTIVES: Commensal bacteria in the nasal cavity may act as opportunistic pathogens that cause infections under certain conditions. Screening for commensal bacteria in the nasal cavity may aid in understanding their roles in microbiota balance and preventing potential infections. METHODS: Nasal samples were collected from healthy preclinical medical students and used to inoculate various bacterial culture media, by means of the WaspLab microbiology automated system...

In essence, automation can be driven by several of the following incentives: increased processing capacity of the laboratory, better costs control through processes standardization, optimized traceability, or improved workflows to reduce turnaround times (TAT). This project aims at presenting an overview of the project management and change management with a focus on the major challenges addressed by lab staff and laboratory leadership during the different phases of the implementation of the WASPLab™ in a routine clinical bacteriology laboratory...

The objectives of this study were to define the shortest incubation times on the WASPLab for reliable MALDI-TOF/MS-based species identification and for the preparation of a 0.5 McFarland suspension for antimicrobial disk diffusion susceptibility testing using short subcultures growing on solid culture media inoculated by positive blood cultures spiked with a wide range of pathogens associated with bloodstream infections. The 520 clinical strains (20 × 26 different species) included in this study were obtained from a collection of non-consecutive and non-duplicate pathogens identified at Geneva University Hospitals...

Automation of the clinical microbiology laboratory has become more prominent as laboratories face higher specimen volumes, understaffing, and are becoming more consolidated. One recent advancement is the use of digital image analysis to rapidly distinguish between chromogenic growth for screening bacterial cultures. In this study, colony segregation software developed by Copan (Brescia, IT) was evaluated to distinguish between significant growth and no growth of urine cultures plated to standard blood and MacConkey agars...

Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess whether the WASPLab automation enables faster detection of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) on chromogenic VRE-specific plates by shortening the incubation time. Methods: Ninety different VRE culture negative rectal ESwab specimens were spiked with various concentrations (ranging from 3 × 102 to 3 × 107 CFU/ml) of 10 Enterococcus faecium strains (vancomycin MICs ranging from 32 to >256 mg/l), 3 E. faecium VanB strains (vancomycin MICs: 4, 8, and 16 mg/l), and 2 E...

OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the agreement at the categorical level between the Copan WASPLab incorporating the BioRad expert system against the SIRscan 2000 automatic for antimicrobial disk diffusion susceptibility testing. METHODS: The 338 clinical strains (67 Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 19 methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), 75 methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus, and 177 Enterobacterales-isolates) analysed in this study were non-duplicate isolates obtained from consecutive clinical samples referred to the clinical bacteriology laboratory at Geneva University Hospitals between June and August 2019...

Urine cultures are among the most common specimens received by clinical laboratories and generate a major share of the laboratory workload. Chromogenic agar can expedite culture results, but technologist review is still needed. In this study, we evaluated the ability of the WASPLab software to interpret urine specimens plated onto chromID CPS Elite (CPSE) agar. Urine specimens submitted for bacterial culture were plated onto CPSE agar with a 1-μl loop using the WASP. Each plate was imaged after 0 and 18 h of incubation, and colonies were enumerated by color using the WASPLab software and a technologist's reading from a high-definition (HD) monitor...

OBJECTIVES: Active screening is a crucial element for the prevention of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) transmission in healthcare settings. Here, we proposed a culture-based protocol for rectal swab CPE screening that combines the detection of CPE and the identification of carbapenamase type. METHODS: The workflow integrates an automatic digital analysis of selective chromogenic media (WASPLab, Copan), with subsequent rapid tests for the confirmation of carbapenemase production (i...