HIGH CONFIDENCE IN POSITIVE STATUS DETERMINATION
First Claim
1. A method of determining whether a culture in a vessel contains a plurality of microorganisms, the method comprising:
- (A) calculating a normalization relative value for each respective measurement in a plurality of measurements of a biological state of the culture in the vessel, taken at different time points between a first time point and a second time point, between (i) the respective measurement and (ii) an initial biological state of the culture taken at an initial time point, thereby forming a plurality of normalization relative values;
(B) determining, for each respective predetermined fixed interval of time points between the first time point and the second time point, a first derivative of the normalization relative values for measurements of the biological state in the respective predetermined fixed interval of time points, thereby forming a plurality of rate transformation values, wherein the plurality of rate transformation values comprises a plurality of sets of rate transformation values, wherein each respective set of rate transformation values in the plurality of sets of rate transformation values is for a different set of contiguous time points between the first time point and the second time point;
(C) computing, for each respective set of rate transformation values in the plurality of sets of rate transformation values, an average relative transformation value as a measure of central tendency of each of the rate transformation values in the respective set of rate transformation values, thereby computing a plurality of average relative transformation values;
(D) obtaining (i) a first result based on a determination of whether any average relative transformation value in the plurality of average relative transformation values exceeds a first threshold value or (ii) a second result based on a determination of whether an extent of growth exhibited by the culture exceeds a second threshold value; and
(E) using the first result or the second result to determine whether the culture in the vessel contains the plurality of microorganisms.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Systems, methods, and apparatus for determining whether a culture in a vessel contains a plurality of microorganisms are provided. A normalization relative value is calculated for each respective measurement of a biological state of the culture between (i) the respective measurement and (ii) an initial biological state. For each fixed interval of time points, a derivative of the normalization relative values in the interval of time points is calculated, thereby forming a plurality of rate transformation values. For each set of rate transformation values in the plurality of rate transformation values, a measure of central tendency of the values in the set is computed, thereby forming a plurality of average relative transformation values. A determination whether the culture contains the microorganisms is made based on whether any calculated average relative transformation value exceeds a first threshold or whether an extent of growth exhibited by the culture exceeds a second threshold.
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Citations
55 Claims
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1. A method of determining whether a culture in a vessel contains a plurality of microorganisms, the method comprising:
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(A) calculating a normalization relative value for each respective measurement in a plurality of measurements of a biological state of the culture in the vessel, taken at different time points between a first time point and a second time point, between (i) the respective measurement and (ii) an initial biological state of the culture taken at an initial time point, thereby forming a plurality of normalization relative values; (B) determining, for each respective predetermined fixed interval of time points between the first time point and the second time point, a first derivative of the normalization relative values for measurements of the biological state in the respective predetermined fixed interval of time points, thereby forming a plurality of rate transformation values, wherein the plurality of rate transformation values comprises a plurality of sets of rate transformation values, wherein each respective set of rate transformation values in the plurality of sets of rate transformation values is for a different set of contiguous time points between the first time point and the second time point; (C) computing, for each respective set of rate transformation values in the plurality of sets of rate transformation values, an average relative transformation value as a measure of central tendency of each of the rate transformation values in the respective set of rate transformation values, thereby computing a plurality of average relative transformation values; (D) obtaining (i) a first result based on a determination of whether any average relative transformation value in the plurality of average relative transformation values exceeds a first threshold value or (ii) a second result based on a determination of whether an extent of growth exhibited by the culture exceeds a second threshold value; and (E) using the first result or the second result to determine whether the culture in the vessel contains the plurality of microorganisms. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. An apparatus for determining whether a culture in a vessel contains a plurality of microrganisms, the apparatus comprising a processor and a memory, coupled to the processor, the memory comprising:
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a first threshold value; a second threshold value; and a culture determination module comprising; (A) electronically encoded instructions for calculating a normalization relative value for each respective measurement in a plurality of measurements of a biological state of the culture in the vessel, taken at different time points between a first time point and a second time point, between (i) the respective measurement and (ii) an initial biological state of the culture taken at an initial time point, thereby forming a plurality of normalization relative values; (B) electronically encoded instructions for determining, for each respective predetermined fixed interval of time points between the first time point and the second time point, a first derivative of the normalization relative values for measurements of the biological state in the respective predetermined fixed interval of time points, thereby forming a plurality of rate transformation values, wherein the plurality of rate transformation values comprises a plurality of sets of rate transformation values, wherein each respective set of rate transformation values in the plurality of sets of rate transformation values is for a different set of contiguous time points between the first time point and the second time point; (C) electronically encoded instructions for computing, for each respective set of rate transformation values in the plurality of sets of rate transformation values, an average relative transformation value as a measure of central tendency of each of the rate transformation values in the respective set of rate transformation values, thereby computing a plurality of average relative transformation values; (D) electronically encoded instructions for obtaining (i) a first result based on a determination of whether any average relative transformation value in the plurality of average relative transformation values exceeds a first threshold value or (ii) a second result based on a determination of whether an extent of growth exhibited by the culture exceeds a second threshold value; and (E) electronically encoded instructions for using the first result or the second result to determine whether the culture in the vessel contains the plurality of microorganisms.
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54. A computer-readable medium storing a computer program product for determining whether a culture in a vessel contains a plurality of microorganisms, executable by a computer, wherein the computer program product comprises:
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a first threshold value; a second threshold value; and a culture determination module comprising; (A) electronically encoded instructions for calculating a normalization relative value for each respective measurement in a plurality of measurements of a biological state of the culture in the vessel, taken at different time points between a first time point and a second time point, between (i) the respective measurement and (ii) an initial biological state of the culture taken at an initial time point, thereby forming a plurality of normalization relative values; (B) electronically encoded instructions for determining, for each respective predetermined fixed interval of time points between the first time point and the second time point, a first derivative of the normalization relative values for measurements of the biological state in the respective predetermined fixed interval of time points, thereby forming a plurality of rate transformation values, wherein the plurality of rate transformation values comprises a plurality of sets of rate transformation values, wherein each respective set of rate transformation values in the plurality of sets of rate transformation values is for a different set of contiguous time points between the first time point and the second time point; (C) electronically encoded instructions for computing, for each respective set of rate transformation values in the plurality of sets of rate transformation values, an average relative transformation value as a measure of central tendency of each of the rate transformation values in the respective set of rate transformation values, thereby computing a plurality of average relative transformation values; (D) electronically encoded instructions for obtaining (i) a first result based on a determination of whether any average relative transformation value in the plurality of average relative transformation values exceeds a first threshold value or (ii) a second result based on a determination of whether an extent of growth exhibited by the culture exceeds a second threshold value; and (E) electronically encoded instructions for using the first result or the second result to determine whether the culture in the vessel contains the plurality of microorganisms.
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55. A method of determining whether a culture in a vessel contains a plurality of microorganisms, the method comprising:
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(A) obtaining a plurality of measurements of the biological state of the culture, each measurement in the plurality of measurements taken at a different time point between a first time point and a second time point; (B) determining, for each respective predetermined fixed interval of time points between the first time point and the second time point, a first derivative of the measurements of the biological state in the respective predetermined fixed interval of time points, thereby forming a plurality of rate transformation values, wherein the plurality of rate transformation values comprises a plurality of sets of rate transformation values, wherein each respective set of rate transformation values in the plurality of sets of rate transformation values is for a different set of contiguous time points between the first time point and the second time point; (C) computing, for each respective set of rate transformation values in the plurality of sets of rate transformation values, an average relative transformation value as a measure of central tendency of each of the rate transformation values in the respective set of rate transformation values, thereby computing a plurality of average relative transformation values; (D) obtaining (i) a first result based on a determination of whether any average relative transformation value in the plurality of average relative transformation values exceeds a first threshold value or (ii) a second result based on a determination of whether an extent of growth exhibited by the culture exceeds a second threshold value; and (E) using the first result or the second result to determine whether the culture in the vessel contains the plurality of microorganisms.
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Specification