Anaerobes and laboratory automation: Like oil and water?

Diagnostic laboratories are urged to take advantage of novel technological advancements to provide standardized and high-throughput information for clinicians; however, total laboratory automation (TLA) has only recently been introduced in clinical microbiology in the last 10-12 years. The introduction of total laboratory automation comes with certain advantages and drawbacks that need to be assessed before the introduction of such systems in the diagnostic workflow that includes the detection of anaerobic bacteria. For several reasons, there is yet to be a manufacturer to fully address the issue of anaerobes in the setting of laboratory automation; the aim of the present paper is to address some of the issues associated with anaerobes in lab automation.