Preventative and Routine Maintenance:
Preventative maintenance and service contracts are added costs; however, they are essential for machine maintenance. While the instrument is relatively simple in nature, vacuum pumps, motherboards, and lasers all experience wear and tear with routine usage and break down, needing replacement over time.
Routine maintenance is necessary for optimal performance. There are several procedural steps that can be done by the medical laboratory scientist to ensure the instrument operates at peak performance. First, always keep a template in the instrument under vacuum when not in use. Second, make sure to run standards on a per-run basis. These should include the respective system's supplied standard(s), biological standards with specifically designated microorganisms [refer to the College of American Pathologists (CAP) requirements], and matrix only (to ensure no “memory” proteins are present that may contaminate either the matrix or the reusable steel target).
Additionally, maintaining electronic communication with vendor technical support is critical so that the instrument can be adjusted as needed. Thus, preexamination planning must include data drops to support remote diagnostics.
Automation Capability:The automation capability that may accompany the instruments will also need to be taken into consideration during the preexamination phase. These range from tracking platforms (for accountability and organism spotting on the template) to totally automated systems that assist with seeding the microorganisms on the template. Some available options for the Bruker MALDI-TOF MS include Bruker Galaxy, Bruker Pilot, PickoloMI™, robotic sampling with the TECAN, Copan WASP®, Copan MALDI-Trace™, and the Becton Dickinson (BD) Kiestra™.
These systems facilitate paperless, guided, target preparation through one of several mechanisms, including upfront data entry into a traceable log (e.g., BD Kiestra™), bar-coded sample entry (e.g., Bruker Pilot), or radio frequency identification (RCID) (e.g., Copan MALDI-Trace™).
- The bioMerieux VITEK® MS linked to the VITEK® 2 antimicrobial susceptibility system (AST) has built-in software to facilitate tracking and seeding of MALDI-TOF MS plates. Consideration should be given to integration with AST (VITEK® 2) through the proprietary MYLA® integration system.
- To date, the Bruker microflex® (MALDI Biotyper®) has been integrated into at least three ASTs: the Phoenix™ (Becton Dickinson), TREK ARIS™ (THERMO Scientific), and MicroScan system (Beckman Coulter).
