Woods G L
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19129.
Am J Clin Pathol. 1992 Oct;98(4 Suppl 1):S22-30.
Automation was introduced into the clinical microbiology laboratory in the 1960s but initially met with limited success. Today, instruments are an integral part of many clinical laboratories and are used for microbial detection, identification, and susceptibility testing; detection of positive blood cultures; screening urine samples for potential pathogens; and assaying levels of antimicrobial agents in body fluids. Automation has allowed more rapid diagnosis and elimination of the subjective interpretation of many manual tests. In addition, in some cases, automated tests are more sensitive and specific than manual techniques. However, automated testing often is more expensive than manual testing and is associated with the possibility of mechanical failure. Automation will continue to be an important part of the clinical microbiology laboratory and in the future will include more molecular biology technologies, such as the polymerase chain reaction. Perhaps practical applications of flow cytometry will be identified.
自动化技术于20世纪60年代被引入临床微生物实验室，但最初成效有限。如今，仪器已成为许多临床实验室不可或缺的一部分，用于微生物检测、鉴定和药敏试验；检测血培养阳性结果；筛查尿液样本中的潜在病原体；以及测定体液中的抗菌剂水平。自动化使得诊断更加迅速，消除了许多手工检测的主观解读。此外，在某些情况下，自动化检测比手工技术更灵敏、更具特异性。然而，自动化检测通常比手工检测成本更高，且存在机械故障的可能性。自动化仍将是临床微生物实验室的重要组成部分，未来还将纳入更多分子生物学技术，如聚合酶链反应。或许还会发现流式细胞术的实际应用。
