Chapter 4 : Bactec Blood Culture Systems

Abstract:

In the mid-1950s Dr. William Johnston and colleagues from Purdue University founded a company that specialized in developing instruments to detect very low levels of carbon-14, which were marketed for use in air quality testing. In the late 1950s, the company was sold to an investor who took it in the direction of seeking government contracts to study beta radiation and develop sensitive detection devices. The desire to transition the business to development of commercial products for the private sector led to a collaboration with scientists at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the development of the Bactec 110 ( Fig. 1A ), the company’s prototype bacterial detection system. The instrument accommodated 10 sample bottles on a rotatory device and utilized a dual-needle adaptor to penetrate the rubber septum and sample headspace gas from bottles. The technology was based on Johnston’s tritium air monitor, detecting carbon-14-labeled CO2 produced by bacteria from radiolabeled substrates in the medium ( 1 , 2 ).