ArticleMicroorganisms2021
Scanning Electron Microscope: A New Potential Tool to Replace Gram Staining for Microbe Identification in Blood Cultures.
Article in Microorganisms, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- SEMTWIST Quantification of Biofilm Infection in Human Chronic Wound Using Scanning Electron Microscopy and Machine Learning.Advances in wound care · 2025Article
- Morpho-biochemical and molecular characterization of Bacillus subtilis and Priestia megaterium isolates from eastern Indian farmlands.Molecular biology reports · 2025Article
- The return of a forgotten ally: tabletop scanning electron microscopy in the realm of bacteriology.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Review
- Early prediction of the bactericidal and bacteriostatic effect of imipenem and doxycycline using tabletop scanning electron microscopy.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Article
- Rapid microbial viability assay using scanning electron microscopy: a proof-of-concept using Phosphotungstic acid staining.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2023Article
- The absolute number of leukocytes per vial as a major cause of early false positive blood cultures: proof-of-concept and application.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2022Article
- A preliminary investigation into bacterial viability using scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive X-ray analysis: The case of antibiotics.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Article
- Antimicrobial susceptibility testing for Gram positive cocci towards vancomycin using scanning electron microscopy.Current research in microbial sciences · 2022Article
- Effects of Simulated Microgravity on the Physiology ofFrontiers in microbiology · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Blood culture is currently the most commonly used method for diagnosing sepsis and bloodstream infections. However, the long turn-around-time to achieve microbe identification remains a major concern for clinical microbiology laboratories. Gram staining for preliminary identification remains the gold standard. We developed a new rapid strategy using a tabletop scanning electron microscope (SEM) and compared its performance with Gram staining for the detection of micro-organisms and preliminary identification directly from blood cultures. We first optimised the sample preparation for twelve samples simultaneously, saving time on imaging. In this work, SEM proved its ability to identify bacteria and yeasts in morphotypes up to the genus level in some cases. We blindly tested 1075 blood cultures and compared our results to the Gram staining preliminary identification, with MALDI-TOF/MS as a reference. This method presents major advantages such as a fast microbe identification, within an hour of the blood culture being detected positive, low preparation costs, and data traceability. This SEM identification strategy can be developed into an automated assay from the sample preparation, micrograph acquisition, and identification process. This strategy could revolutionise urgent microbiological diagnosis of infectious diseases.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.