ASTar kits

An ASTar kit contains two disposables, a sample preparation cartridge and an AST disc.

Cartridge

The cartridge contains all reagents and disposable articles needed for sample preparation, concentration determination, dilution and growth medium adaptation.

The reagents for this are pre-deposited in the cartridge in the form of a combination of frozen or freeze-dried and room-temperature liquids. It also contains components for internal liquid transport and zones that are intended for temperature regulating the sample during the analysis.

The cartridge contains a function that filters millimetre-sized resin composites present in many types of blood culture bottles and otherwise risk interfering with the analysis. Finally, it also has barcodes for identifying and linking the cartridge and patient sample.

The cartridge is stored at room temperature.

AST disc

The AST disc is used for AST and concentration determination.

It contains culturing chambers with prefilled antimicrobials in various concentrations used for AST, chambers without antimicrobials used as controls, and chambers used to determine the concentration in the added sample. It also contains channels for quick and effective distribution of samples to the culturing chambers and structures that allow air supply to the chambers without the supply affecting the imaging analysis.

The number of culturing chambers totals more than 330, furthermore, the format and placement of the chambers is adapted for quick reading, a prerequisite for rapid analysis of the large number of chambers. The AST disc also contains a unique barcode for identification and linking to each respective sample preparation cartridge and patient.

The disc is stored at room temperature.

Cartridge

The cartridge contains all reagents and disposable articles needed for sample preparation, concentration determination, dilution and growth medium adaptation.

The cartridge is stored at room temperature.

AST disc

The AST disc is used for AST and concentration determination.

The disc is stored at room temperature.

ASTar BC G- panel

Preliminary panel for AST analysis of gram-negative bacteria (including fastidious pathogens) from positive blood cultures.

Antimicrobial class	Antimicrobial agent	Range (mg/L) Non-Fastidious	Range (mg/L) Fastidious	# Dilutions
Aminoglycoside	Amikacin	0.5-128		9
Aminoglycoside	Gentamicin	0.25-32		8
Aminoglycoside	Tobramycin	0.125-32		9
Carbapenem	Ertapenem	0.015-4		9
Carbapenem	Imipenem	0.03-16		10
Carbapenem	Meropenem	0.125-64		10
Carbapenem	Meropenem-vaboractam	0.06-32		10
Cephalosporin	Cefazolin	0.25-16		7
Cephalosporin	Cefepime	0.25-64		9
Cephalosporin	Cefotaxime	0.015-128		14
Cephalosporin	Cefoxitin	1-64		7
Cephalosporin	Ceftazidime	0.25-64		9
Cephalosporin	Ceftazidime-avibactam	0.25-32		8
Cephalosporin	Ceftolozane-tazobactam	0.125-32		9
Cephalosporin	Ceftriaxone	0.015-128		14
Cephalosporin	Cefuroxime	1-64		7
Fluoroquinolone	Ciprofloxacin	0.015-8		10
Fluoroquinolone	Levofloxacin	0.125-16		8
Miscellaneous	Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole	0.06-16		9
Monobactam	Aztreonam	0.25-64		9
Penicillin	Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid	1-32		6
Penicillin	Ampicillin	1-64		7
Penicillin	Ampicillin-sulbactam EU	0.5-128		9
Penicillin	Ampicillin-sulbactam US	1-64		7
Penicillin	Piperacillin-tazobactam	0.5-256		10
Polymyxin	Colistin	0.25-8		6
Tetracycline	Tigecycline	0.015-16		11
Carbapenem	Meropenem		0.03-8	9
Cephalosporin	Cefotaxime		0.015-2	8
Cephalosporin	Ceftriaxone		0.015-2	8
Fluoroquinolone	Levofloxacin		0.015-2	8
Penicillin	Amoxicillin-clavulanic acid		0.5-32	7
Penicillin	Ampicillin		0.25-8	6

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Flexible solution enables future panel extensions

ASTar system can be extended to other types of clinical samples. The modular design of the sample preparation cartridge, in combination with the AST disc, allows for future adaptation to other sample types such as isolates, urine, respiratory and sterile aspirates.