Revolutionizing Phenotypic Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing: Lightning-Fast Techniques Based on Cutting-Edge Electrochemistry

Abstract

Due to the ongoing concern for the development of rapid and accurate antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) methods in the field of clinical microbiology, several novel AST systems have been developed to replace the traditional gold standard AST techniques, which are time-consuming and can lead to delayed susceptibility guided therapy outcomes. In this review, the focus is on the phenotypic assays based on electrochemistry that are used to determine bacterial susceptibility towards antibiotics. Electrochemical techniques have gained significant interest in the field of AST due to their rapidity, sensitivity, and specificity, although it is important to note that some of these methods may have limitations regarding the specific classes of antibiotics and bacteria that they can be applied to, which researchers can address by fine-tuning the techniques or incorporating additional controls. By offering significant advantages over traditional AST methods in terms of rapidity and accuracy, electrochemical phenotypic assays could lead to improved patient outcomes.