Benchtop Analyzer Promises 1-Hour UTI Detection and Antibiotic Sensitivity Indication

More than 400 million cases of urinary tract infections (UTIs) are reported every year across the world. The gold standard for diagnosing UTIs and planning a treatment course depends on rapid dipstick tests and clinical diagnostic analysis. However, dipsticks have low specificity and can yield false positives, resulting in the overuse of antibiotics. Additionally, clinical tests have a lengthy turnaround time and offer 80% accuracy, resulting in physicians opting for the wrong course of treatment. Now, a benchtop analyzer with the ability to accurately identify the causative bug and the right antibiotic in under an hour could be a game changer for UTI diagnosis.

Astek Diagnostics (Baltimore, MD, USA) is developing the JIDDU benchtop analyzer to improve UTI diagnosis through rapid, one-hour turnaround times and an unprecedented 96% accuracy. Leveraging a novel method for antibiotic susceptibility testing (AST), JIDDU rapidly detects bacterial infections in urine samples, assesses infection severity, and delivers accurate AST results in an hour. The automated system comprises single-use sample cartridges, which separate the bacteria from urine, alongside a fluorescence analyzer that creates bacterial detection and an antibiotic susceptibility profile. The combined results ensure optimal treatment in significantly less time than the current methods.

Image: The JIDDU benchtop analyzer can improve UTI diagnosis through rapid, one-hour turnaround times (Photo courtesy of Astek Diagnostics)

By offering infection confirmation for UTIs and antibiotic sensitivity indication within one hour, JIDDU significantly improves diagnostic speed and accuracy, thus reducing patient complications and pain, as well as lowering healthcare costs. It marks a significant leap forward in patient care by enabling much more timely and accurate treatment as compared to the current standard of care. This can ultimately save lives, considering that 25% of sepsis cases are due to UTIs. Given that women contract UTIs up to 30 times more often than men, the JIDDU system would have major implications for women’s health. Astek Diagnostics is focused on going to market first with a urine-based test and expects to complete clinical trials by January 2025. In addition, the company aims to develop the JIDDU system into a multipurpose diagnostic platform with the ability to confirm bacterial infections and assess antibiotic sensitivity using four sample types: urine, CSF, effluent, and blood.

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