Most commonly, quantitative recovery applies when a method consistently detects a substantial percentage of the intended analyte in a specimen. Read on to learn more.
Analytes and Parameters
In chemistry, an analyte is a substance or material being measured by an analytical method. In microbiology, the analyte is either microbial cells or molecules. A parameter is a property used to quantify an analyte. Direct counting – using either a microscope or a flow cytometer – is…
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The tool you choose depends on the intended use.
Parts 1 Through 3 Recap
In Part 1 (July 2021), when I started this series on test method comparison, I provided an overview of several basic precision concepts:
Accuracy
Bias
Correlation coefficient
Regression curve
Repeatability
Reproducibility
In Part 2 (August 2021) I explained why it is unrealistic to expect correlation coefficients between two methods, each based on a different parameter (e.g., CFU mL-1 and gene…
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The tool you choose depends on the intended use.
Agreement
In August, I discussed the concept of attribute score agreement between two test parameters. Before continuing to the next part of my discussion, I’ll use a Venn diagram to further illustrate this concept. Figure 1 shows the respective data sets obtained by two test parameters – ATP-bioburden and culturable bacterial bioburden (bacterial CFU mL-1). The blue and red circles, respectively, represent the ATP and…
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A Bit More About Relative Bias
In my last post I introduced the concept of relative bias. I wrote that unless there is a reference standard against which a measurement can be compared, only relative bias – the difference between test results obtained by different methods – can be assessed. In my example, I compared the results of two test methods for determining the concentration of end-use diluted metalworking fluids (MWF). …
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Culture Versus Non-Culture Test Methods
History
There is a false impression among microbiologists and non-microbiologists alike that because culture testing has been around since the mid-19th century, it is a reference method (I’m come back to the reference method concept in a bit). The first quantitative culture-based method – the heterotrophic plate count (HPC) first appeared in Standard Methods for the Examination of…
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