Department of Clinical Laboratory, Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2021 Nov 17;11:770367. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.770367. eCollection 2021.
Automation is increasingly being applied in clinical laboratories; however, preanalytical processing for microbiology tests and screening is still largely performed using manual methods owing to the complex procedures involved. To promote automation of clinical microbiology laboratories, it is important to assess the performance of automated systems for different specimen types separately. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the potential clinical application of the Copan Walk Away Specimen Processor (WASP) automated preanalytical microbiology processing system in the detection of pathogens in female reproductive tract specimens and its feasibility in optimizing diagnostic procedures.
Female reproductive tract specimens collected from pregnant women at their first obstetric check-up were inoculated into culture media using the Copan WASP automated specimen processing system and were also cultured using a conventional manual inoculation method. After 48 h of culture, the growth of colonies was observed, and the types of bacteria, number of colonies, and efficiency in isolating single colonies were compared between the automated and manual groups. The specimens collected from the WASP system using the Copan-ESwab sample collection tubes were further analyzed for the presence of (CT), (NG), and (UU) fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and an immunochromatographic assay to investigate the feasibility of this method in optimizing detection of these common pathogens of the female reproductive tract.
Compared with the manual culture method, the Copan WASP microbiology automation system detected fewer bacterial types (<0.001) and bacterial colonies (<0.001) but had a higher detection rate of single colonies (<0.001). There was no significant difference in the detection rates of common pathogens encountered in clinical obstetrics and gynecology, including group B (GBS) (=0.575) and (=0.917), between the two methods. Specimens collected in the Copan-ESwab tubes could be used for screening of GBS and CT fluorescence-based qPCR but not with immunochromatography. However, UU and NG were not detected in any sample with either method; thus, further validation is required to determine the feasibility of the Copan system for screening these pathogens.
The Copan WASP microbiology automation system could facilitate the optimization of diagnostic procedures for detecting common pathogens of the female reproductive system, thereby reducing associated costs.
自动化技术在临床实验室中得到了越来越广泛的应用；然而，由于涉及到复杂的程序，微生物学检验和筛查的前处理过程仍然主要采用手动方法。为了促进临床微生物学实验室的自动化，重要的是分别评估不同标本类型的自动化系统的性能。因此，本研究的目的是探索女性生殖道标本中使用 Copan Walk Away Specimen Processor（WASP）自动化前处理微生物处理系统的潜在临床应用，并评估其在优化诊断程序方面的可行性。
从孕妇的第一次产科检查中收集女性生殖道标本，使用 Copan WASP 自动化标本处理系统将其接种到培养基中，并使用传统的手动接种方法进行培养。培养 48 小时后，观察菌落的生长情况，并比较自动组和手动组之间的细菌类型、菌落数量和分离单个菌落的效率。使用 Copan-ESwab 样品采集管从 WASP 系统中收集的标本进一步进行 （CT）、 （NG）和 （UU）荧光定量聚合酶链反应（qPCR）和免疫层析分析，以研究该方法在优化检测这些常见女性生殖道病原体方面的可行性。
与手动培养方法相比，Copan WASP 微生物自动化系统检测到的细菌类型更少（<0.001）和细菌菌落更少（<0.001），但单个菌落的检测率更高（<0.001）。两种方法在常见的临床妇产科病原体的检测率方面没有显著差异，包括 B 组链球菌（GBS）（=0.575）和 （=0.917）。Copan-ESwab 管收集的标本可用于 GBS 和 CT 荧光定量 qPCR 筛查，但不能用于免疫层析。然而，两种方法均未检测到 UU 和 NG；因此，需要进一步验证 Copan 系统筛查这些病原体的可行性。
Copan WASP 微生物自动化系统可以促进优化检测女性生殖系统常见病原体的诊断程序，从而降低相关成本。
