The MALDI Biotyper allows unbiased identification of micro-organisms within a few minutes, down to the species level. Continued expansion of the libraries ensures all clinically relevant micro-organisms — as well as more challenging organisms such as Mycobacterium and filamentous fungi — are included.
It has been successfully applied to identification of micro-organisms directly from positive blood culture, and functional β-lactamase assays have been developed to study resistance to penicillin derivatives, carbapenems and cephalosporins. The technique also has the potential to provide sub-species identifications.