Micro Imaging Technology, Inc. has developed and patented the MIT 1000, a Microbial Identification System that revolutionizes the pathogenic bacteria diagnostic process and can annually save thousands of lives and tens of millions of dollars in health care costs. This technology, which the Company markets under the name Micro Identification Technologies(R), will identify bacteria in minutes at a significantly lower cost per test compared to conventional methods. Until recently, MIT's Microbial Identification System, the MIT 1000, was comprised of a hardware detection unit, the MIT 1000 Instrument, and a software-based identification component that ran on a dedicated desktop PC with an installed A/D (analog-to-digital) data collection board.

This configuration required a bulky, proprietary ribbon cable connected between the MIT 1000 Instrument and the A/D board in the PC. The identification software used two software components: the User Interface program and customer selected collection of MIT Identifiers(TM). The User Interface program operates the MIT 1000 Instrument and performs microbial identifications using the installed MIT Identifier(TM) collection.

The User Interface program implements the identification component, MIT's proprietary algorithms, necessary for successful identification of a given microbial sample. Updates to the User Interface program or the MIT Identifier(TM) collection required manual installation of the new version by the end user. This usage model also inherently allows controlled access to MIT's catalog of Identifiers(TM), circumventing the need for updating customers' local software whenever new Identifiers(TM) are added or when the customer chooses to obtain licensing for additional Identifiers(TM).

This design allows for the next version of the system to integrate the general-purpose PC functionality into the MIT 1000 system, providing a completely stand-alone design.