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Disk Diffusion Breakpoint Determination Using A Bayesian Nonparametric Variation Of The Errors-In-Variables Model, Glen Richard Depalma

Open Access Dissertations

Drug dilution (MIC) and disk diffusion (DIA) are the two most common antimicrobial susceptibility tests used by hospitals and clinics to determine an unknown pathogen's susceptibility to various antibiotics. Both tests use breakpoints to classify the pathogen as either susceptible, indeterminant, or resistant to each drug under consideration. While the determination of these drug-specific MIC classification breakpoints is straightforward, determination of comparable DIA breakpoints is not. It is this issue that motivates this research.

Traditionally, the error-rate bounded (ERB) method has been used to calibrate the two tests. This procedure involves determining DIA breakpoints which minimize the observed discrepancies between …