Evolution of Diagnostic and Forensic Microbiology in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract

Diagnostic microbiology plays a vital role in managing infectious diseases, combating antimicrobial resistance, and containment of outbreaks. During the fourth industrial revolution, when artificial intelligence (AI) became an essential part of our day-to-day lives, its integration into healthcare would further revolutionize our knowledge and potential. Although in the budding stage, AI with machine learning is being increasingly utilized in various aspects of diagnostic microbiology. It can handle large datasets that are difficult to analyze manually. Researchers have developed and demonstrated several machine-learning algorithms for interpreting bacterial cultures, conducting image analysis for microbial detection, and predicting antimicrobial susceptibility patterns. Thus, AI may most likely be the ultimate solution to the ever-increasing demand for improved results with shorter turnaround times. AI can also assist forensic microbiologists in crime scene investigations, as it can guide individual identification, cause and time since death, and manner of death. This review summarizes the application of AI in diagnostic microbiology for performing diverse sets of microbial investigations and is an essential aid in forensic microbiology.

Tackling the Antimicrobial Resistance “Pandemic” with Machine Learning Tools: A Summary of Available Evidence

“…Artificial intelligence and machine learning have been implemented to diagnose microorganisms and predict susceptibility to antimicrobial agents [80]. Researchers in China investigating the Pseudomonas aeruginosa ST316 sublineage causing ear infections used the K-mer machine learning approach to generate predictive models and identify biomarkers of resistance to gentamicin, fosfomycin, and cefoperazone-sulbactam [81].…”

Artificial Intelligence Revolutionizing the Field of Medical Education

“…CBIR helps by searching for images with contents similar to a reference image using information derived from the images [22]. Similarly, AI with machine learning is being used to diagnose microbial infections, which can be immense for training and educating technicians in microbiology [23]. On the other hand, the recent advancement in AI-based deep learning technologies focusing on cellular images can transform education in diagnostic pathology [24].…”