Analysis of the images that obtained with the microbiological disk diffusion method by using real-time image processing techniques

Antimicrobial treatment in the clinic is determined according to the results of susceptibility testing. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing, tests are performed to determine the in vitro activity of an antimicrobial agent against a particular bacterial species. In this study, using image processing techniques intended elimination of contamination may occur during the test step and aimed to realize a system that can support the expert in reading the test results. The images taken over the plate in the designed system is aimed to be saved by increasing the accuracy and reliability testing; to minimize the instantaneous error in the tests depends on the reader, the identification of disease has been targeted to be the faster and more reliable results. In this study, the bacteria reproduce cabin conditions that have been made to conform to the image acquisition supported by the necessary equipment. Using microbiological disk diffusion method and Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) cultivations images were documented at intervals that set by the user. Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Salmonella strains used in this study. The homogeneity of light distribution of the incubator cabinet is provided using plexiglass and vinyl. In the part of taking, saving and processing of the image the Matlab software is used. Creating a software interface based on the selections from the user to test it has been made. With this system, the changes that occur during the incubation with environmental parameters such as temperature and humidity during incubation have been recorded by certain time intervals. Thus it was examined depending on the time of the interaction between drug and bacteria. From the resulting images through programs designed development phase of bacteria and against certain antibiotic susceptibility-resistance state is determined.