Point-of-Care Device to Reduce Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing Time from Days to Minutes
|
By LabMedica International staff writers Posted on 12 Sep 2023 |
|
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a significant global health issue, currently leading to over 1.27 million deaths worldwide each year. By 2050, AMR could be causing up to 10 million deaths annually, surpassing even cancer and diabetes. One of the consequences of rising AMR is that medicine could revert back to a time before antibiotics, jeopardizing even routine surgeries. One of the main types of infections contributing to this issue is urinary tract infections (UTIs). They are a leading cause of sickness and death and are closely linked with sepsis cases. There is a critical need for quick diagnostic tests to determine the most effective antibiotic treatment for each case. Now, a point-of-care diagnostic platform can not only detect bacterial presence but also guide clinicians to choose the best antibiotic treatment.
Microplate Dx (Glasgow, UK) has combined novel hardware with proprietary data processing algorithms to develop a rapid antibiotic susceptibility testing platform. Initially aimed at UTIs, the company has already conducted multiple successful clinical trials of its platform. A urine sample is simply added to a cartridge, which is then placed in the device, and results are available in less than an hour. This quick and affordable system aims to eliminate the current practice of 'best-guess' prescriptions, thereby promoting better use of antibiotics and ultimately reducing resistance and saving lives.
The product is currently in its prototype phase, with Microplate Dx planning more clinical trials for 2024/25. The company aims to launch the product in pharmacies across Europe and is also considering entering the US market. Although the company is initially focusing on UTIs, the versatility of its platform opens the doors for expanding to test for other drug-resistant infections like respiratory tract issues, sepsis, meningitis, and fungal infections.
“Our mission at Microplate Dx is to improve the quality of lives for patients by providing antimicrobial stewardship cost-effectively. Any delay in identifying the correct antibiotic for treatment can put lives at risk and huge pressure on clinical decision-making, especially when the antibiotic sensitivity data that Microplate Dx can produce in an hour or less compared to the current approach that can take two days using existing techniques,” said Dr. Stuart Hannah, Microplate Dx CEO. “Early clinical benchmark testing relating to urinary tract infections has been positive and the company now intends to target scale-up both commercially and technically. Early prescribing of appropriate antibiotics to patients, so-called ‘personalized prescribing’, is vital to combat antimicrobial resistance on a global scale, and for serious infections, early intervention will save countless lives.”
Related Links:
Microplate Dx
Latest Microbiology News
- Handheld Device Delivers Low-Cost TB Results in Less Than One Hour
- New AI-Based Method Improves Diagnosis of Drug-Resistant Infections
- Breakthrough Diagnostic Technology Identifies Bacterial Infections with Almost 100% Accuracy within Three Hours
- Innovative ID/AST System to Help Diagnose Infectious Diseases and Combat AMR
- Gastrointestinal Panel Delivers Rapid Detection of Five Common Bacterial Pathogens for Outpatient Use
- Rapid PCR Testing in ICU Improves Antibiotic Stewardship
- Unique Genetic Signature Predicts Drug Resistance in Bacteria
- Unique Barcoding System Tracks Pneumonia-Causing Bacteria as They Infect Blood Stream
- Rapid Sepsis Diagnostic Test Demonstrates Improved Patient Care and Cost Savings in Hospital Application
- Rapid Diagnostic System to Detect Neonatal Sepsis Within Hours
- Novel Test to Diagnose Bacterial Pneumonia Directly from Whole Blood
- Interferon-γ Release Assay Effective in Patients with COPD Complicated with Pulmonary Tuberculosis
- New Point of Care Tests to Help Reduce Overuse of Antibiotics
- 30-Minute Sepsis Test Differentiates Bacterial Infections, Viral Infections, and Noninfectious Disease
- CRISPR-TB Blood Test to Enable Early Disease Diagnosis and Public Screening
- Syndromic Panel Provides Fast Answers for Outpatient Diagnosis of Gastrointestinal Conditions
Channels
Clinical Chemistry
view channel
Low-Cost Portable Screening Test to Transform Kidney Disease Detection
Millions of individuals suffer from kidney disease, which often remains undiagnosed until it has reached a critical stage. This silent epidemic not only diminishes the quality of life for those affected... Read more
New Method Uses Pulsed Infrared Light to Find Cancer's 'Fingerprints' In Blood Plasma
Cancer diagnoses have traditionally relied on invasive or time-consuming procedures like tissue biopsies. Now, new research published in ACS Central Science introduces a method that utilizes pulsed infrared... Read more
Molecular Diagnostics
view channel
Novel Autoantibody Against DAGLA Discovered in Cerebellitis
Autoimmune cerebellar ataxias are strongly disabling disorders characterized by an impaired ability to coordinate muscle movement. Cerebellar autoantibodies serve as useful biomarkers to support rapid... Read more
Gene-Based Blood Test Accurately Predicts Tumor Recurrence of Advanced Skin Cancer
Melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer, becomes extremely difficult to treat once it spreads to other parts of the body. For patients with metastatic melanoma tumors that cannot be surgically removed... Read more
Hematology
view channel
New Scoring System Predicts Risk of Developing Cancer from Common Blood Disorder
Clonal cytopenia of undetermined significance (CCUS) is a blood disorder commonly found in older adults, characterized by mutations in blood cells and a low blood count, but without any obvious cause or... Read more
Non-Invasive Prenatal Test for Fetal RhD Status Demonstrates 100% Accuracy
In the United States, approximately 15% of pregnant individuals are RhD-negative. However, in about 40% of these cases, the fetus is also RhD-negative, making the administration of RhoGAM unnecessary.... Read more
Immunology
view channel
Stem Cell Test Predicts Treatment Outcome for Patients with Platinum-Resistant Ovarian Cancer
Epithelial ovarian cancer frequently responds to chemotherapy initially, but eventually, the tumor develops resistance to the therapy, leading to regrowth. This resistance is partially due to the activation... Read more
Machine Learning-Enabled Blood Test Predicts Immunotherapy Response in Lymphoma Patients
Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy has emerged as one of the most promising recent developments in the treatment of blood cancers. However, over half of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) patients... Read more
Pathology
view channel
Novel UV and Machine Learning-Aided Method Detects Microbial Contamination in Cell Cultures
Cell therapy holds great potential in treating diseases such as cancers, inflammatory conditions, and chronic degenerative disorders by manipulating or replacing cells to restore function or combat disease.... Read more
New Error-Corrected Method to Help Detect Cancer from Blood Samples Alone
"Liquid biopsy" technology, which relies on blood tests for early cancer detection and monitoring cancer burden in patients, has the potential to transform cancer care. However, detecting the mutational... Read more
"Metal Detector" Algorithm Hunts Down Vulnerable Tumors
Scientists have developed an algorithm capable of functioning as a "metal detector" to identify vulnerable tumors, marking a significant advancement in personalized cancer treatment. This breakthrough... Read more
Novel Technique Uses ‘Sugar’ Signatures to Identify and Classify Pancreatic Cancer Cell Subtypes
Pancreatic cancer is often asymptomatic in its early stages, making it difficult to detect until it has progressed. Consequently, only 15% of pancreatic cancers are diagnosed early enough to allow for... Read moreTechnology
view channel
Pain-On-A-Chip Microfluidic Device Determines Types of Chronic Pain from Blood Samples
Chronic pain is a widespread condition that remains difficult to manage, and existing clinical methods for its treatment rely largely on self-reporting, which can be subjective and especially problematic... Read more
Innovative, Label-Free Ratiometric Fluorosensor Enables More Sensitive Viral RNA Detection
Viruses present a major global health risk, as demonstrated by recent pandemics, making early detection and identification essential for preventing new outbreaks. While traditional detection methods are... Read more
Industry
view channel
Cepheid and Oxford Nanopore Technologies Partner on Advancing Automated Sequencing-Based Solutions
Cepheid (Sunnyvale, CA, USA), a leading molecular diagnostics company, and Oxford Nanopore Technologies (Oxford, UK), the company behind a new generation of sequencing-based molecular analysis technologies,... Read more
Grifols and Tecan’s IBL Collaborate on Advanced Biomarker Panels
Grifols (Barcelona, Spain), one of the world’s leading producers of plasma-derived medicines and innovative diagnostic solutions, is expanding its offer in clinical diagnostics through a strategic partnership... Read more
