After a successful launch at the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Microbe 2017, COPAN is showcasing PhenoMATRIX™ to a wider audience at the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Annual Meeting at the San Diego Convention Center from August 1 through August 3.

Smart phones in every hand. Driverless cars roaming around Silicon Valley. The all-knowing Google. Are the robots taking over? And if they are, is that such a bad thing? While science fiction loves to pit machines against humans, the reality is robots, or more aptly Artificial Intelligence (AI), are an asset to human intelligence. In other words, they make us better. And that’s exactly what COPAN has created with its unique suite of algorithms, PhenoMATRIX™.

The newest feature in COPAN’s line of automation, PhenoMATRIX™ is a sophisticated suite of algorithms that uses AI to automatically count and recognize organisms, giving microbiology labs the ability to read, interpret and segregate bacterial cultures with the click of a button. The algorithms of this revolutionary system, only available to WASPLab™ users, have been tested in different laboratories across the US, Canada and Europe and proven with more than 250,000 clinical samples.

“The future belongs to those who envision it,” said Norman Sharples, COPAN Diagnostics CEO. “We are creating AI technology that’s really an accessory to the human brain. We aren’t replacing humans. These smart algorithms combine the unapparelled human intelligence with the invaluable asset of AI, hence our new slogan: PhenoMatrix AI: Amplifies Your Ingenuity.”

Automation in microbiology is making new strides with the implementation of Digital Microbiology and sophisticated reading algorithms that can amplify the sensitivity of routine technologists in reading cultures.  Surveillance specimens for Hospital Associated Infections are commonly plated on chromogenic media for pathogen detection.

If an HAI pathogen is present, such as MRSA or VRE, the colony exhibits a definitive color. PhenoMATRIX™ image analysis software is being used today in laboratories to screen cultures with high accuracy for HAI.  In addition, segregation software algorithms are also available and in use today for categorizing urine cultures quantitatively and using expert rules, which lessens the amount of technologist time required to report out results to the provider.

COPAN is the first to report on the use of sophisticated, accurate reading algorithms for MRSA and VRE and for segregating urine cultures quantitatively in multicenter studies across the globe.

“COPAN is leading the way in the application of AI in clinical microbiology through the sophistication of our algorithms and user defined expert rules. This technology is amplifying the Medical Technologists’ ability to apply their Microbiology skills, not replacing them. This is very exciting for improved patient care in a time of decreasing numbers of techs and increasing work volumes,” concludes Sharples.

To learn more about PhenoMATRIX™, stop by booth #5549 at AACC at the San Diego Convention Center or visit www.copanusa.com/products/automation/phenomatrix.