Microbiology laboratories face competing demands to deliver rapid, accurate results while managing rising caseloads and meeting sustainability and financial goals. Hospital-associated infections, rapidly evolving pathogens and multi-drug resistant (MDR) organisms are intensifying these pressures, stretching already limited resources.
Against this backdrop, workflow efficiency has become increasingly critical. Bruker’s microbiology and infection diagnostics portfolio reflects this shift and addresses key challenges for microbiology labs through an integrated ecosystem that combines rapid identification, antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST), same-day strain typing and streamlined next-generation sequencing (NGS) analytics. Bruker’s holistic approach helps labs to accelerate time-to-result, minimize waste and meet sustainability objectives.
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MALDI Biotyper – high-throughput universal identification
At the center of Bruker’s portfolio is the MALDI Biotyper®, the gold standard for high-throughput, untargeted microbial identification. The system determines the unique proteomic fingerprint of bacteria, yeasts or fungi and matches it to extensive, continuously updated reference libraries which currently encompass more than 4,600 microbial species, with a new update coming soon.
In routine use, a full 96-spot plate can be processed in approx. five minutes, enabling analysis of up to 600 isolates per hour. This efficiency allows laboratories to replace multiple organism-specific biochemical panels and simplify test menus. By reducing borderline results and repeat identifications, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Time-Of-Flight (MALDI-TOF) analysis drives faster turnaround, lower consumable use and less plate waste.
Beyond routine use, the MALDI Biotyper also supports advanced workflows, from functional assays such as MBT-STAR® to detect enzymatic beta-lactam resistance mechanisms, to specialized tools for mycobacteria and fungal identification.
Mycobacteria and other challenging organisms
Accurate, first-time identification of difficult pathogens directly impacts treatment decisions, infection control protocols and public health reporting. Mycobacteria in particular demand species-level precision, where misidentification can extend therapy unnecessarily or delay outbreak recognition.
Bruker’s mycobacteria solutions, including the MBT Mycobacteria Kit and MBT HT Mycobacteria Module, enable species-level identification from both liquid and solid culture media using a dedicated reference library that covers most known mycobacterial species.
Because this module integrates directly with the MALDI Biotyper platform, laboratories can manage bacterial, fungal, and mycobacterial workflows in the same system, saving lab space, resources, and operator training needs. If more than species identification is needed, Bruker offers targeted molecular assays such as the LiquidArray® MTB/XDR VER 1.0 and the MDR/MTB ELITe MGB® Kit (ELITechGroup, a Bruker company) enabling simultaneous detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex DNA and key drug resistance mutations, supporting rapid, informed treatment decisions.
AST for smarter, targeted decisions
Accurate AST remains vital in informing treatment decisions. Bruker’s MICRONAUT microdilution plates and UMIC® test strips elevate routine AST by delivering precise minimum inhibitory concentration values for complex agents, from antifungals to MDR Gram-negative antibiotics. This supports tailored therapy choices, helping clinicians avoid both overtreatment and undertreatment, ultimately reducing length of stay and intensive care unit transfers.
Designed for predictability and ease-of-use, MICRONAUT and UMIC solutions minimize imprecise in-house tests and reduce reliance on external reference testing, to streamline workflows without compromising reliability. Their room temperature storage and long shelf life also reduce logistical waste and improve cost control.
To complement identification and AST workflows, Bruker Biomedical System’s Aerospray® cytocentrifuge and slide stainer further streamline pre-analytical processing. This dual-purpose instrument combines staining and cytocentrifugation in one compact design, helping laboratories improve consistency, reduce contamination risk, and accelerate turnaround times. Aerospray technology replaces manual or dip-type stainers to save bench space while enhancing quality, traceability and standardization across samples.
Bringing real-time strain typing
Traditional genotyping methods offer high resolution but are often too slow and resource-intensive for immediate outbreak triage. The IR Biotyper®, powered by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, addresses this gap by generating rapid, highly reproducible strain-level fingerprints.
The IR Biotyper quickly delivers actionable insights. Batches of 30 isolates can be processed in approx. three hours, enabling same-day investigation of potential clusters. Hospitals have validated IR Biotyper results against molecular typing for key pathogens such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, Enterococcus faecium, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
This rapid confirmation (or exclusion) of related isolates empowers infection control teams to deploy barrier precautions sooner, manage bed allocation effectively and avoid the cost of unnecessary full-genome sequencing.
Smart sequencing, NGS analytics made routine
Some outbreaks or resistance investigations demand deeper genomic insight beyond culture-based methods. Bruker’s MBioSEQ™ Ridom Typer provides an intuitive software platform for NGS data analysis.
The MBioSEQ Ridom Typer software streamlines interpretation of complex sequencing datasets, enabling confident outbreak tracing and resistance mechanism identification without specialized bioinformatics expertise.
By integrating Aerospray for staining, the MALDI Biotyper for identification, MICRONAUT and UMIC systems for targeted AST, the IR Biotyper for rapid strain typing and the MBioSEQ Ridom Typer for smart NGS analytics, laboratories can extract maximum insight from each sample. This end-to-end approach enables rapid identification, real-time strain discrimination and deep-dive sequencing, all within a single ecosystem that accelerates insights while controlling costs.
Beyond culture and sequencing based workflows, Bruker, through its subsidiary ELITechGroup, extends its molecular diagnostics portfolio with fully automated sample-to-answer (S2A) systems including the ELITe BeGenius® and ELITe InGenius® platforms. These high-throughput instruments integrate extraction, amplification, and detection within a single, walkway workflow, delivering results in as little as three hours. With flexible multiplexing, LIS integration and customizable PCR panels, they empower mid-sized hospitals and reference labs to expand testing capacity and accelerate diagnostic turnaround times.
Bruker will exhibit at ESCMID Global 2026 on booth B30, hall B1. https://www.bruker.com/en/landingpages/bdal-md/eccmid.html
