Rapid Near-Patient Sepsis Diagnosis

There are approximately 123,000 cases and around 46,000 associated deaths from sepsis reported in England each year, with 70% of cases coming from the community and directly costing the NHS at least 1.5bn annually.

For every hour that administration of antibiotics to septic patients is delayed, the risk of death increases by nearly 8%. Rapid near patient sepsis diagnosis is vital to aid early detection and reduce the number of associated deaths.

Following consultation with a clinical advisory and academic panel, we developed and patented a prototype for a portable microfluidic multi-assay system to be used in a range of clinical applications including early detection of sepsis.

At Medtechtomarket, we have led the development of a highly sensitive, simple and low cost microfluidic diagnostic system for the early detection and subsequent therapy monitoring of sepsis. We have demonstrated correlations with competitor laboratory systems of >0.99 on biochemical markers of sepsis.

Our in-house accredited manufacturing facility has enabled the automated pico-litre dispensing of reagents into the microfluidic device and we have utilised BioBank samples to confirm initial product applicability.

Our work in this field has seen us win two prestigious SBRI awards to support the development of the product for use in Primary care, A&E and Intensive Care.