Delaying effective antibiotic therapy is a major cause of sepsis-associated mortality. The EUCAST rapid antibiotic susceptibility test (RAST) is performed from positive blood cultures to provide rapid results. Disc diffusion tests inoculated with positive blood culture broth are read at 4, 6, and 8 h and interpreted against species and time-specific criteria. Potential problems are the possibility of missing specific reading times for tests and slower growth in incubators that are frequently opened. The current study aimed to assess if digital visualization by the BD Kiestra™ total laboratory automation system is suitable for reading RASTs by capturing images at the correct times and retaining them for review. Utilizing the Kiestra™ InoqulA, 100 μl of positive blood culture broth was lawn-inoculated onto Mueller-Hinton agar and incubated at 35 °C for automated digital zone measurement at 4, 6, and 8 h. Aliquots from 135 positive blood cultures were tested against EUCAST-recommended and other drugs and assessed for readability of digital images. Microdilution MICs were determined in parallel to RASTs. All isolates except 7/10 enterococci yielded images of suitable quality for zone measurement. Of the 641 digitally read tests for other organisms, 207 (32.3%) were readable in 4 h, 555 (86.6%) in 6 h, and 641 (100%) in 8 h. For tests included in EUCAST criteria, 92.1% provided categorical agreement with microdilution MICs. Digital image reading of RASTs is a potentially viable, inexpensive tool for providing rapid susceptibility results which can help reduce sepsis-associated mortality.

延迟有效的抗生素治疗是败血症相关死亡的主要原因。EUCAST 快速抗生素药敏试验 (RAST) 是从阳性血培养物中进行的，以提供快速结果。在 4、6 和 8 小时读取接种阳性血培养肉汤的椎间盘扩散测试，并根据物种和时间特定标准进行解释。潜在的问题是可能会错过测试的特定阅读时间以及经常打开的培养箱的生长速度较慢。目前的研究旨在评估 BD Kiestra™ 全实验室自动化系统的数字可视化是否适合通过在正确的时间捕获图像并保留以供审查来读取 RAST。利用 Kiestra™ InoqulA，将 100 μl 阳性血培养肉汤草坪接种到 Mueller-Hinton 琼脂上，并在 35°C 下孵育，以便在 4、6 和 8 小时进行自动数字区域测量。针对 EUCAST 推荐的药物和其他药物对 135 份阳性血培养的等分试样进行了测试，并评估了数字图像的可读性。微量稀释 MIC 与 RAST 平行测定。除 7/10 肠球菌外的所有分离株均产生适合区域测量质量的图像。在其他生物的 641 个数字读取测试中，207 个（32.3%）在 4 小时内可读，555 个（86.6%）在 6 小时内可读，641 个（100%）在 8 小时内可读。对于 EUCAST 标准中包含的测试，92.1% 提供了与微量稀释 MIC 的绝对一致性。RAST 的数字图像读取是一种潜在可行的廉价工具，可提供快速的药敏结果，有助于降低败血症相关死亡率。