**MIC (Minimum Inhibitory Concentration)** is a crucial parameter when interpreting **automated culture system results** like **Vitek-2**, which are based on **CLSI guidelines**.
**Definition:** MIC is the **lowest concentration of a drug** that inhibits the **growth of a given bacterial strain**.
**Selection of antibiotics should not be based on MIC alone**, because **sensitive breakpoints vary for each drug**.
Instead, we use the **Therapeutic Index (TI)** to make better clinical decisions.
**Formula:** TI = Sensitive Breakpoint / MIC
**Higher TI = Better Sensitivity**
Let’s compare two drugs based on **MIC and Therapeutic Index (TI):**
**Conclusion:** Although **Drug 2 has a lower MIC**, **Drug 1 is the better choice** because it has a **higher TI (8 vs. 4)**.
If you only consider MIC, **Drug 2 may seem better** (since it has a lower MIC), but **Therapeutic Index (TI) is the correct way to assess antibiotic effectiveness**.
✅ **Higher the TI, better the sensitivity and clinical effectiveness**.
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