Analytical techniques for assessing antimicrobial resistance: Conventional solutions, contemporary problems and futuristic outlooks

Antimicrobial resistance is becoming a high-priority issue that the world is gearing up to address. A large number of reports have addressed the factors, causes, consequences and mitigation measures surrounding antimicrobial resistance. Yet, there are not many reports addressing the analytical methods involved in the detection of antimicrobial resistance. Timely detection of antimicrobial resistance can lead to early intervention. The following review presents an executive summary of the conventional analytical techniques applied for analysing antimicrobial resistance. The state-of-the-art techniques involving metagenomic approaches as well as mass spectrometric studies demonstrated for the detection of antimicrobial resistance have been discussed and their advantages and disadvantages highlighted. This is the first review that addresses this unique subject area and consolidates the existing opportunities and probes the prospects in improvising these techniques for rapid AMR analysis.