Reduce matrix interference
Separate microorganisms from blood cells, proteins, cellular debris and other components that could obscure or distort the analytical signal.
Science
Searching for a faster way to measure antimicrobial susceptibility.
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing traditionally relies on observing whether microorganisms grow in the presence of an antibiotic.
FASTINOV's research began with a different question:
Could antimicrobial susceptibility be detected from the early response of individual microbial cells, before conventional growth becomes visible?
Flow cytometry offered a way to investigate that question.
01 Flow cytometry
Detecting antimicrobial response before growth becomes visible.
Antimicrobials begin affecting susceptible microorganisms before those effects become visible as changes in population growth.
FASTINOV developed methods combining fluorescent probes with flow cytometry to detect early cellular and metabolic changes following antimicrobial exposure. Proprietary analytical algorithms interpret the resulting cytometric information and classify the microbial response according to its susceptibility phenotype.
The objective was to preserve the fundamental principle of phenotypic AST — observing how the microorganism actually responds to an antimicrobial — while obtaining that information much earlier.
01Antibiotic exposure
→02Early cellular change
→03Fluorescent signal
→04Flow-cytometry measurement
→05Susceptibility interpretation
FASTINOV's research led to ultra-rapid phenotypic AST workflows capable of producing susceptibility results directly from positive blood cultures in less than two hours.
<2 hAST time to result
447positive blood cultures in multicentre validation
670positive blood cultures in later multisite validation
02 Direct testing
A clear signal requires a clean sample.
Performing flow cytometry directly from clinical samples created another scientific challenge.
A positive blood culture is not a suspension of microorganisms alone. It also contains blood cells, proteins, cellular debris and other components of the original sample matrix. These components can generate background signals, artefacts and interference during flow-cytometry analysis.
To use flow cytometry directly on clinical samples, FASTINOV first had to solve the sample-preparation problem.
Reduce interference while preserving biological function.
The preparation could not simply remove material from the sample. FASTINOV needed to recover microorganisms at sufficient concentration while preserving their viability and biological response to antimicrobial exposure.
Preserve functional microorganisms
Recover viable microorganisms capable of producing measurable biological responses during phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing.
A visually clean sample alone was not sufficient. The microorganisms also had to remain functionally intact.
03 Sample preparation
Recovering viable microorganisms directly from complex samples.
FASTINOV developed a proprietary sample-preparation approach designed to reduce interference from the original sample matrix while recovering a concentrated pellet of viable bacteria or yeasts.
The recovered microorganisms can then be resuspended and adjusted to the concentration required for downstream analysis. For FASTINOV's flow-cytometry AST workflow, this provided the clean and biologically active microbial suspension required for rapid phenotypic testing.
Positive clinical sample
→Matrix reduction
→Microorganism recovery
→Viable pellet
→Standardized suspension
The original application was positive blood culture preparation for ultra-rapid phenotypic AST, but later the company validated the method on other samples.
04 QUICKprep
The preparation technology became a platform of its own.
FASTINOV's sample-preparation approach was originally developed because ultra-rapid AST required a reliable way to obtain clean, viable microorganisms directly from clinical samples.
But the resulting preparation was not inherently limited to flow cytometry. Once microorganisms have been separated from interfering sample components and recovered in a concentrated, viable form, they can be used in other downstream microbiology workflows.
FASTINOV subsequently evaluated the approach for direct identification by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry and expanded its use to additional sample types, including urine. This technology became the scientific and technical foundation of QUICKprep.
QUICKprep brings FASTINOV's sample-preparation technology into a dedicated product for rapid access to viable microorganisms.
From early susceptibility detection to rapid sample preparation.
Measure antimicrobial response earlier
Flow cytometry detects early cellular effects following antibiotic exposure.
Prepare microorganisms directly from the sample
Direct analysis requires reduction of sample-matrix interference while preserving viable microorganisms.
Turn the preparation into QUICKprep
The proprietary preparation technology becomes a dedicated platform for downstream microbiology workflows.
FASTINOV's flow-cytometry research and QUICKprep are consecutive parts of the same scientific development path.
Evidence
Validated across different stages of the workflow.
Multicentre evaluation of FASTINOV ultra-rapid flow-cytometry AST directly from positive blood cultures.
<2 h ASTRead study →Three-site clinical validation using inoculated and clinical positive blood cultures.
>97% overall categorical agreement · <2 h ASTRead study →FASTINOV's preparation approach has supported direct MALDI-TOF identification and has been developed into QUICKprep.
Explore QUICKprep evidence →Research & IP
Built on more than a decade of microbiology research.
FASTINOV's scientific work spans microbial physiology, fluorescence-based analysis, flow cytometry, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, antimicrobial-resistance detection, sample preparation and rapid microorganism identification.
This research has generated an international intellectual-property portfolio and a growing body of scientific evidence involving FASTINOV technologies and products.
30+scientific publications and studies
10+ yearsof FASTINOV microbiology research
Multipleinternational patent families
Publications
Key publications.
Ultra-rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing
Evaluation of FASTINOV ultrarapid flow cytometry antimicrobial susceptibility testing directly from positive blood cultures
Silva-Dias A, Pérez-Viso B, Martins-Oliveira I, et al. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 2021;59(10):e00544-21.
Read publication →A multisite validation of a two hours antibiotic susceptibility flow cytometry assay directly from positive blood cultures
Pina-Vaz C, Silva-Dias A, Martins-Oliveira I, et al. BMC Microbiology. 2024;24:187.
Read publication →A proof-of-concept of a 2-hours direct antimicrobial susceptibility test from inoculated urine samples
Sousa-Pinheiro M, Martins-Oliveira I, Abreu D, et al. Microorganisms. 2026;14(3):711.
Read publication →Sample preparation and direct identification
An improved protocol for bacteria identification by MALDI-TOF MS directly from positive blood cultures
Cruz S, Abreu D, Gomes R, et al. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases. 2024;43:605–610.
Read publication →Rapid identification directly from urine using QUICKprep kit
Sousa-Pinheiro M, Martins-Oliveira I, Abreu D, et al. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases. 2026.
Read publication →From scientific research to faster microbiology workflows.
FASTINOV's research began with the challenge of detecting antimicrobial susceptibility earlier. Solving that challenge required new approaches not only to analysis, but also to the preparation of microorganisms directly from clinical samples.