Reward for robotic agar plate streaker

LBT Innovations has been awarded a prize in the 2010 MDEA Medical Design Excellence Awards for PREVI Isola - a robotic system for streaking agar plates. The technology replaces over a hundred years of manual streaking of specimens on to agar plates by individuals.

LBT Innovations’ Chief Executive Officer Ms Lusia Guthrie said the award was fitting recognition for the technology, which had substantially improved scientific workplaces where it was installed.

LBT worked with bioMérieux to adapt the new technology and commercialise it to the company’s global customer base. Mr Stéphane Bancel, bioMérieux Chief Executive Officer, said, “Our ambition is to provide the most innovative technologies available to accelerate and streamline microbiology lab workflow.

“PREVI Isola is a key part of bioMérieux’s Full Microbiology Lab Automation offer and we would like to congratulate LBT for this award, which confirms the excellence of the design.

“This instrument substantially increases the speed, accuracy and efficiency of microbiology labs. This is a breakthrough for microbiology, a major step change, and this view is endorsed by the judges of the MDEA Awards.”

PREVI Isola is now being installed in laboratories around the globe in the US, Europe, Asia and Latin America. It is expected to be installed in Australian laboratories from this year.

The technology is based on an invention by Adelaide scientist John Glasson and engineer Lachlan Smith, who realised “there had to be a better way” to address the challenges facing modern microbiology laboratories.