Patent ID: 6140069
Filing Date: 2000-10-31
Classification: C12Q

Abstract:
The method for determining the minimum inhibitory concentration of an antibiotic for a target microorganism, comprising the steps of:(a) providing a microorganism growth medium;(b) providing a sensible reagent, which includes an antibiotic mixed with a first marker, said first marker having a first signal with a magnitude proportional to said first marker's concentration;(c) incorporating said reagent into said growth medium, in a manner that creates a gradient of concentrations of said antibiotic and said first marker within said growth medium;(d) inoculating said growth medium with said target microorganism;(e) incubating said inoculated growth medium for a period of time sufficient for said target microorganism to grow a detectable amount on a first section of said growth medium;(f) determining a growth boundary between said first section of said growth medium having detectable target microorganism growth and a second section of said growth medium having substantially no detectable target microorganism growth; and(g) measuring said magnitude of said first signal at said growth boundary; and(h) determining said minimum inhibitory concentration of said antibiotic using said measured magnitude of said first signal.