Mass Spectrometry and Microbial Diagnostics in the Clinical Laboratory

Introduction

Over the past 10 years, mass spectrometry (MS) has revolutionized the practice of clinical microbiology. Microbial protein profiling via matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI)–time-of-flight (TOF) MS has achieved widespread adoption by laboratories because it allows rapid identification of bacteria, mycobacteria, yeast, and molds in less time and at less cost than conventional methods. The availability of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-cleared MALDI-TOF systems coupled with the ease of sample preparation inherent to MALDI-TOF analysis has accelerated acceptance of this technology within the clinical laboratory. Rapid and accurate microorganism identification allows physicians to initiate antimicrobial therapies with greater likelihood of success earlier in the treatment course, thereby improving patient outcomes and decreasing costs associated with patient care. Although researchers continue to explore additional applications of MALDI-TOF as well as expand capabilities with new innovations in MS and assess their benefit to patient care, these technologies already have established themselves as the standard of care for microbial diagnostics.