MICA Advance Legionella is a rapid, culture-based detection solution that brings Legionella pneumophila results in days instead of weeks. It preserves the microbiological framework of traditional culture while upgrading laboratories to an automated, instrument-based read-out.
The workflow follows familiar Legionella testing steps:
- Sample concentration and membrane filtration
- Culture on Legionella-selective agar under incubation conditions derived from established standards (e.g. ISO 11731)
- Early detection and automatic enumeration of Legionella pneumophila microcolonies on the membrane by the MICA Advance instrument, reported as CFU/L
For many rapidmicrobiology readers, Legionella control still relies on conventional culture methods that typically take 7–14 days to deliver results. During this time, laboratories and water system managers are in a blind spot: they know a sample was taken, but they don’t yet know whether the system is under control. This delay slows post-remediation verification, complicates trend analysis and can extend the period during which systems remain at risk.
Diamidex developed the MICA Advance Legionella solution to close this gap while preserving what microbiologists value most in culture: culturable-cell focus, quantitative CFU/L results and continuity with existing decision thresholds.
Accelerating Culture Instead of Changing the Rules
MICA Advance Legionella is a rapid culture-based detection solution. The objective is simple: keep the microbiological framework of culture, but shorten the time-to-result from weeks to days.
The workflow is built on familiar steps for Legionella testing:
- Sample concentration and filtration
- Culture on selective media under incubation conditions derived from established Legionella standards
- Reading as CFU/L
The change happens at the read-out stage. Instead of waiting for visible colonies after 7–10 days, MICA detects Legionella pneumophila microcolonies earlier, typically after around 48 hours of incubation. Using specific fluorescent labelling and solid-phase cytometry inside the MICA instrument, culturable microcolonies are automatically detected and enumerated on the membrane.
The output for the laboratory remains a quantitative CFU/L result for Legionella pneumophila based on culturable organisms – but available in days rather than weeks.
What MICA Advance Changes for Legionella Programs
For laboratories and their customers, shortening time-to-result with MICA Advance Legionella brings several practical benefits:
- Faster post-remediation checks After thermal or chemical treatment, facilities can confirm whether an intervention has been effective within the same working week, rather than waiting for a full culture cycle.
- More responsive water safety plans Short feedback loops make it easier to link operational events (temperature deviations, stagnation, commissioning of new installations) with microbiological outcomes and to adjust control measures accordingly.
- Better risk prioritisation Earlier CFU/L data help distinguish between isolated events and persistent contamination patterns, so investigations and corrective actions can be focused where risk is highest.
- Continuity with existing limits Because MICA Advance Legionella remains culture-based and reports CFU/L, results can be interpreted using the same alert and action levels already defined in internal specifications and local guidelines.
Designed for routine laboratory work
Beyond time-to-result, the MICA Advance platform was designed as a routine tool for microbiology laboratories:
- Automated reading and enumeration reduce manual colony counting time and support higher throughput.
- Digital images and result files support traceability, auditability and long-term trending.
- The workflow builds on known Legionella culture principles, easing method adoption and training.
From retrospective to proactive Legionella control
Moving from weeks to days for Legionella results is more than a convenience; it changes the way water systems are monitored and managed. By combining culture-based CFU/L quantification with rapid microcolony detection, MICA Advance Legionella helps laboratories and their customers move from retrospective reporting to genuinely proactive Legionella risk management.
For microbiology laboratories serving healthcare, building water systems, industry or utilities, rapid culture-based solutions like MICA Advance Legionella represent a practical next step in the evolution of waterborne pathogen control: faster results, without abandoning the language and decision framework of culture.
