Sree Avittam Thirunal Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram to have automated blood culture system

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Sree Avittam Thirunal Hospital (SAT) here will soon have an automated blood culture system. The system is expected to considerably reduce the disease diagnosis time and help doctors implement remedial measures faster.

It is learnt that the system will reduce the incubation time required to detect positive culture results and subsequently foreshorten antibiotic therapy needed for the ailment. “With the arrival of automated blood culture system, a physician can identify the disease earlier and effectively,” said Dr A Santhoshkumar, superintendent, SAT Hospital. According to him, the new system will provide hints of the disease to the physician within a day and comprehensive details within two days.

“If a patient arrives at the hospital with certain conditions, he is immediately provided with medications. The determination of the disease comes later. Normally it takes three to five days for the lab reports to come. With the new system the disease and the medication could be determined faster,” added Santhoshkumar.

Focussed on determining bacterial infection, the system will be operational within a month. The `18 lakh system will be launched along with the commissioning of the renovated pediatric casualty.
Though the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram has an automated blood culture system at its disposal, the heavy patient inflow there makes it harder for SAT to receive results on time.