An automated culture plate reading system applied to clinical microbiology was adapted for the high throughput assessment of environmental monitoring plates collected from a sterile manufacturing site. The instrument is proposed for industrialisation in routine manufacturing setting where false negative results could not be tolerated. Proof of concept studies to ensure a robust counting system have been conducted to assess the performance of the system and assess equivalency with existing ways of working.

Here we describe a side-by-side comparison of the system compared to qualified microbiologists over multiple months. The performance of the automated culture plate reader was assessed for both its colony detection and accuracy of the estimate of CFU present on the plate to determine suitability for use within pharmaceutical QC laboratories.

Poster Presentation: AstraZeneca

Conference: PDA Pharmaceutical Microbiology Conference 2024

Date: October 2024

Authors: Andrew Gravett, Natalie Williams, Karen Capper, and Phil Duncanson

Citation: Andrew Gravett, Natalie Williams, Karen Capper, and Phil Duncanson. 2024. Application of a High Throughput Automated Colony Counting System Powered by AI to Environmental Monitoring. PDA Micro 2024. Washington.