Tuberculosis, a health concern so well controlled in recent decades that eradication seemed imminent, is once again reaching epidemic proportions following the increasing prevalence of AIDS. One important means of curbing this resurgence is a robust method that has the capability of identifying and speciating mycobacterial infections in a matter of days. Classic biochemical techniques, which require 4 to 8 weeks to identify and speciate tuberculosis infections, are in the process of being replaced by newer methods, including BACTEC, gene probes, nucleic acid amplification, amplification of ribosomal RNA, high-performance liquid chromatography, and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. This review is intended to give the reader a synopsis of the current literature and research on these methods, including reliability, approximate time required for detection and speciation, and clinical utility.

The measurement of glycohemoglobin (GHb) by boronate affinity chromatography is useful in monitoring long-term glucose control in diabetic subjects. The inherent disadvantage of this method is the hands-on time required because the hemoglobin fractions are separated on individual disposable columns. To overcome this disadvantage, we have programmed a Hamilton Microlab 2200 automated pipetting cartesian robot to complete the procedure, from the aspiration of blood from the sample-collection tube to the transfer of the separated hemoglobin fractions to a microtiter plate for absorbance measurement. This automated robotic system can analyze 96 specimens, including patients' samples and control material, in approximately 3 h. The precision (CV) of the method ranged from 1.6% to 3.5% within-run and from 2.7% to 3.5% day-to-day. The results correlated with those obtained with the Accuflex semiautomated robot, which used the identical disposable column, and those obtained with a Primus high-performance liquid chromatograph, which used a regenerated microparticle column. Automation of the GHb procedure allowed improved throughput, reduced labor cost, improved precision, and offered greater laboratory safety.

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A s a result of a rapidly increasing demand for accurate, cost-effective, and highly flexible multiplexed assay systems, the annual market for multiplex assays is currently billions of dollars and is expected to continue to grow exponentially. Presently, there exist two broad classes of surface-based multiplex platformsdthose using fixed planar surfaces (fixed arrays) and those that are particle-based (liquid arrays). We present here a description of an ''Arrayable Liquid Array'' platform, based on Encoded Sortable Particle (ESP) technology that combines many of the advantages of fixed and liquid arrays. ESPs have significant advantages in throughput, scalability, mixing efficiency, and flexibility over existing liquid array platforms while also incorporating the detection and manufacturing benefits of fixed arrays.

A hybrid neural network (HNN) developed by Physical Optics Corporation (Torrance, CA) is helping a team of scientists with the San Diego Veterans Administration Medical Center and University of California, San Diego Pathology Department automate the detection and identification of Tuberculosis and other mycobacterial infections.