This new 148-page report from VPGMarketResearch.com reviews current instrumentation technologies, and profiles features of leading automated and semi-automated Molecular Diagnostic, Microbial Identification, Antibiotic Susceptibility, Blood Culture, Urine Screening, and Immunodiagnostic analyzers. The report also presents strategic assessments of current and emerging suppliers of microbiology products, including their sales, product portfolios, marketing tactics, technological know-how, new products in R&D, collaborative arrangements, and business strategies.

The level of automation in the microbiology laboratory has been lagging behind that of other major clinical laboratory segments, such as chemistry and hematology. The slow acceptance of the technology is in part due to the complexity of developing automation suitable for microbiology tests.

The introduction of automated microbiology instrumentation has been delayed by a number of intrinsic and technical problems. The diffusion of automated microbiology systems, once the technology was developed, has not matched that of other automated laboratory technologies. The acquisition of automation in microbiology has been slowed by forces less easily identifiable than the effects of various reimbursement plans. Some laboratorians still believe that current instrumentation is not the ultimate technology and expect better automation on the horizon.

The driving force behind the need for rapid reporting of microbiological test results is the clinical relevance in a time of financial austerity, a time when cost and health care effectiveness to the patient and diagnostician looms ever larger, and where after-the-fact results at high expense are coming under severe scrutiny worldwide.

Contains 148 pages