Riikka Castrén

Introduction

Bacteria can be harmful or beneficial to humans. When bacteria causes an infection it is important to treat it with the right type of antibiotic to improve patient outcomes. It can take several hours to days to get laboratory results on biological samples and this waiting period forces doctors to prescribe multiple antibiotics at once, hoping that one of them would kill of the offending bacteria. Treating patients with multiple antibiotics at once contributes to the problem of drug resistant bacteria. According to WHO, antimicrobial resistance increases the cost of health care with lengthier stays in hospitals and more intensive care required.
Time is of essence when treating infections. Receiving laboratory results quicker can save the lives of millions of people each year but current testing methods are slow and costly. During my clinical rotations I have always been frustrated by the fact that it can take days to obtain laboratory results. There is a clear need for rapid bacterial testing devices in the health care field and In-Dx seems promising because of its quick results and high accuracy.
Developed by researchers at Michigan State University, In-Dx is a point-of-care molecular diagnostic system that can identify bacteria in as little as 20 minutes to 2 hours.

How does it work

A sample of blood, urine, spit, stool, wound or cerebral fluid is collected from an infected patient and concentrated into a smaller amount, which is then heated to break down the sample cells. After this the sample is placed into the In-Dx testing panel. Incubation time is 20 minutes to 2 hours. Results are color coded to indicate the type of bacteria found in a sample.

Use and safety

In-Dx has been in clinical trial for more than a year and the trials show an 85 percent accuracy rate in identifying the exact types of bacteria in a sample. In-Dx has been found to be most accurate when testing wound and urine samples. With some further development, accuracy can be improved.
In-Dx panel was designed by engineers Bob Stedtfeld and Syed Hashsham, in MSU's College of Engineering, to allow flexibility for use with microchip and smartphone technology.

Future views

Bacterial infections are one of the most common reasons for hospitalizations. Identifying the bacteria causing the infection quickly can save millions of lives in the future. In-Dx will be helpful in fighting against antibiotic resistant bacteria by lessening the use of unnecessary antibiotics. I'm hoping that this type of rapid testing is available in most hospitals soon. There are other similar rapid point-of-care devices being developed at the moment to detect MRSA and E. coli infections in hospital patients.

References

Medica Magazine. Faster way of detecting bacteria. Online document. <https://www.medica-tradefair.com/cgibin/md_medica/lib/pub/tt.cgi/Faster_way_of_detecting_bacteria.html?oid=84120&lang=2&ticket=g_u_e_s_t> Accessed 6.10.2017.
Michigan State University. Online document. <http://research.msu.edu/tag/in-dx/ >. Accessed 6.10.2017.
World Health Organization. Online document. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/antibiotic-resistance/en/. Accessed 4.10.2017