BD Leverages Artificial Intelligence To Transform Microbiology Urine Testing

FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., May 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) (NYSE: BDX), a leading global medical technology company, today announced the U.S. launch of a Urine Culture Application for use with the BD Kiestra™ lab automation incubation and imaging system that can transform the way microbiology labs approach urine culture analysis.

Designed using artificial intelligence (AI) and leveraging the quality of BD BBL™ plated media, the application uses digital imaging and software algorithms to determine the amount of growth on a urine culture plate from clean caught and catheterized samples. The BD Kiestra™ system's intelligent incubation and imaging device uses high-throughput robotics to perform time series imaging, coupled with machine learning so that plates with no significant growth can be released for disposal and plates with significant growth automatically go into a queue for clinician analysis.

In many labs, urine cultures make up a significant part of the daily workload — however, the majority of those samples have no growth or non-significant growth and don't require any additional work-up. Batch review of large volumes of plates with non-significant growth and release can help medical laboratorians focus their time and expertise on more clinically relevant tasks.

"The use of the Urine Culture Application to automatically organize specimens into meaningful worklists driven by user-defined expert rules for critical criteria such as 'high risk patients' or 'complex specimens' will help laboratories work more efficiently and better prioritize their efforts to focus on the most critical and complex specimens," said Cecilia Soriano, vice president and general manager for Microbiology at BD Integrated Diagnostic Solutions. "Reading plates is one of the laboratory tasks that requires the most skill and given the decrease of skilled technicians entering the workforce and the strain on resources created by the COVID-19 pandemic, it's that much more critical for labs to be able to be more efficient."

Powered by BD Synapsys™ informatics solution, the BD Kiestra™ Urine Culture application (UCA) may help improve lab efficiency and enhance quality by providing diagnostically relevant, standardized images for interpretation by laboratory staff. The new Urine Culture app can be used with both standalone BD Kiestra™ ReadA systems as well as track-based BD Kiestra™ laboratory automation solutions.

About the BD Kiestra™ Laboratory Automation Solutions
BD Kiestra™ lab automation solutions provide total lab automation for the clinical microbiology laboratory. These solutions are designed to enhance laboratory operations, increase financial efficiencies and advance laboratory operations. BD Kiestra™ lab automation offerings include scalable and modular microbiology workflow automation solutions, ranging from standalone units to fully automated track-based automation systems for mid- and high-volume labs. Learn more about BD Kiestra.

About BD Synapsys™ Informatics
BD Synapsys™ Informatics is the informatics platform for BD Integrated Diagnostic Solutions, including the BD Veritor™ Plus System and the BD MAX™ System, which have been granted Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to perform SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing. BD Synapsys™ Informatics solution provides secure connectivity, integrated workflows, and on-demand actionable insights for laboratories and facilities with Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) waivers. BD Synapsys Informatics was among the first life science diagnostics informatics platforms to receive the Underwriters Laboratory Cybersecurity Assurance Program certification, an independent third-party evaluation that uses standardized, testable criteria for assessing software vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Learn more about BD Synapsys.

About BD
BD is one of the largest global medical technology companies in the world and is advancing the world of health by improving medical discovery, diagnostics and the delivery of care. The company supports the heroes on the frontlines of health care by developing innovative technology, services and solutions that help advance both clinical therapy for patients and clinical process for health care providers. BD and its 70,000 employees have a passion and commitment to help enhance the safety and efficiency of clinicians' care delivery process, enable laboratory scientists to accurately detect disease and advance researchers' capabilities to develop the next generation of diagnostics and therapeutics. BD has a presence in virtually every country and partners with organizations around the world to address some of the most challenging global health issues. By working in close collaboration with customers, BD can help enhance outcomes, lower costs, increase efficiencies, improve safety and expand access to health care. For more information on BD, please visit bd.com or connect with us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/bd1/ and Twitter @BDandCo.

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SOURCE BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company)