Figure 2.

Comparison of culture-based versus molecular diagnostics in routine clinical microbiology. Innovative clinical diagnostics with inclusion of molecular methodology requires careful consideration of many important test parameters among which sensitivity, specificity, cost, shelf life, robustness, simplicity, and user-friendliness. Although molecular techniques are faster, there is frequently a mandatory need for cultivation throughout the diagnostic process. Viable cells are often required for storage, downstream AST or simply for reproducibility testing at a later stage.