New Study Shows Copan’s Colibrí™ Automates MALDI-TOF Sample Preparation with High Accuracy
May 1, 2024
Key findings at a glance
Published in Diagnostic Microbiology & Infectious Disease, a multicenter study set out to test whether Copan’s Colibrí™ could automate one of the last manual steps in modern microbial identification: preparing colonies for MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Across three laboratories and 444 bacterial isolates, the automated workstation matched manual preparation with 99.54% accuracy.
MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry has transformed clinical microbiology. A laser ionizes a prepared microbial sample, and the time the ions take to travel down a flight tube produces a protein fingerprint that is matched against a reference database. Instead of waiting days for culture-based results, laboratories can identify bacteria and yeast within minutes, enabling earlier targeted treatment and lower costs.
Automating a Manual Process
MALDI-TOF has accelerated identification, but the preparation that feeds it remains largely manual. A technologist picks each colony, spots it onto a target plate, and overlays it with matrix, a sequence that takes roughly 30 minutes of hands-on time to fill a single plate. The Colibrí™ replaces those repetitive steps: a pipette tip picks colonies, spots them onto the target, and adds matrix automatically, returning that time to the laboratory.
Inside the Study
Copan’s Colibrí™ workstation automates the workflow from start to finish. Colonies are selected by a technologist or by Copan’s imaging AI, PhenoMATRIX® TAG, then picked, spotted onto the target plate, and overlaid with matrix without manual handling. To measure how well automation held up, researchers at three laboratories compared the Colibrí™ against manual preparation and identification on the bioMérieux VITEK® MS system, testing 444 bacterial isolates from culture.
99.54% accuracy
Automated preparation matched the accuracy of manual methods across all 444 isolates.
Of the 432 isolates that returned an identification by both methods, only two results disagreed, one of which was most likely a laboratory error. Twelve isolates (2.7%) returned no identification on the Colibrí™; most were Gram-positive, though no single group of organisms failed consistently. The authors estimated that a laboratory identifying about 100 isolates per day could save roughly 1.5 hours of hands-on technologist time daily, while gaining standardization and traceability across every run.
Faster Results, Better Care
By removing the labor of manual preparation, the Colibrí™ lets clinical laboratories realize the full speed of MALDI-TOF and frees technologists for more complex work. Paired with PhenoMATRIX® TAG for automated colony imaging and pick-point selection, it also enables end-to-end tracking and traceability of every isolate. The result turns MALDI-TOF from a batch process into a high-throughput workflow, supporting faster microbial identification and better stewardship of skilled labor.
Citation
Pham ML, Van Horn K, Zarate E, Pickering E, Murphy C, Bryant K. A multicenter evaluation of Copan’s Colibrí™, an automated instrument for MALDI TOF MS target application for bacterial identification. Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease. 2023. doi:10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2023.116098
Product
Explore Colibrí™
See how automated colony picking, spotting, and matrix application fit into your MALDI-TOF and AST workflows.
Visit the Colibrí™ page →Read the study
View the full publication
Read the complete multicenter evaluation in Diagnostic Microbiology & Infectious Disease.
Open the study →Intended use: Colibrí™ is FDA cleared for use with the bioMérieux VITEK® MS or Bruker MALDI Biotyper® CA mass spectrometry systems for automating rapid identification of isolated colonies of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria grown on solid culture media. The system is also FDA cleared for the preparation of microbial suspensions for AST with the bioMérieux VITEK® 2 and Beckman Coulter MicroScan systems.
PhenoMATRIX® TAG integration with Colibrí™ is labeled Research Use Only (RUO) in the United States. Product availability and regulatory status may vary by country. See the brochure for full regulatory details and intended-use statements.
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