VITEK explained

VITEK refers to a series of automated microbiology analyzers for microbial identification (ID) and antibiotic sensitivity testing (AST).

History

Vitek was developed in the 1960s between NASA and the defense contractor McDonnell Douglas. For the Voyager program, McDonnell Douglas developed a Microbial Load Monitor (MLM) to detect bacterial contamination aboard the spacecraft.^{[1] [2]} Under a subsequent NASA contract, McDonnell Douglas explored expanding the MLM to detecting and identifying bacterial infections among the crew of a human mission to Mars.^[3] The initial system was called the Microbial Load Monitor (MLM) and could detect nine common pathogens of Urinary tract infections (UTIs).^[3] In 1977, a new subsidiary was formed around the product, Vitek Systems, and the system was renamed the VITEK meaning "life technology", a portmanteau of Latin Viv, meaning life, and TEK being short for technology.^{[3] [4]} In 1979, Vitek began selling the AutoMicrobic System (AMS) to hospital laboratories.^[2]

In 1989, Vitek Systems was sold to bioMérieux.^{[3] [5] [6]}

In March 2005, the Vitek 2 Compact received FDA clearance.^[7]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Microbe Detector - NASA Spinoff . NASA.
2. Book: Haggerty . James J. . Spinoff 1985 . August 1985 . National Aeronautics and Space Administration Office of Commercial Programs Technology Utilization Division . 76–77.
3. Book: Olson . Wayne P. . Automated Microbial Identification and Quantitation: Technologies for the 2000s . 31 January 1996 . CRC Press . 978-0-935184-82-2 . 53–55 . 10 July 2024 . en. Chapter 3. Substrate Utilization and the Automated Identification of Microbes.
4. Book: New Acronyms, Initialisms, & Abbreviations . 1980 . Gale Research Company . 978-0-8103-0501-4 . 178 . en.
5. Web site: Microbiology System - NASA Spinoff . NASA.
6. Book: Haggerty . James J . SpinOff 1992 . 1992 . 0-16-038211-4 . 68–69 . 10 July 2024.
7. Vitek 2 Compact has arrived!. 10 July 2024 . bioMérieux Connection . 2. 2 . April 2005.