Automated methods and data handling in bacteriology.

INTRODUCfION 484 APPROACHES TO AUTOMATION ...... ...... .... 486 The General Problem '" 486 Inoculation and Staining Methods 486 Detecting Devices ....... ... ..... .... . . ...... ........ ....... 487 Optical detection ..... ......... ......... . . 487 Bacterial Properties Useful for Detection and Identification 488 Bioluminescence 488 Radiometric methods ......... 489 Electrical impedance ......... 489 Microcalorimetry 490 Electrophoretic protein profiles 490 Gas chromatography 490 Total System Approaches 491 Automated analysis of bacterial growth 491 Colony morphology analysis 491 Substrate tape system 492 Viking Mars lander 492 Automated microbiological detection-identification system ....... ...... . . .... 492 Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing . 493 Semiautomated microtiilution ...... 493 Zane analyzer 493 Light scattering 494