Rapid sepsis diagnosis biosensor developed

Scientists at Strathclyde University have developed a biosensor that can very quickly diagnose sepsis, which could transform treatment of the disease and save many lives. The current method of testing for sepsis can take up to 72 hours whereas this new development can deliver a diagnosis in roughly two and a half minutes. IL-6 is a protein biomarker that can indicate the presence of sepsis, and this new device uses a microelectrode to detect IL-6 in the blood by taking a pinprick of blood which is then put on the chip so the result can be read. The device can also be implanted and used on patients in intensive care for continuous monitoring.
Dr Damion Corrigan, department of Biomedical Engineering at Strathclyde University, said: “The research shows that the tools we’ve developed could underpin a rapid test for sepsis. We’ve developed a needle shaped sensor with different electrodes and have shown we can detect one sepsis biomarker in almost real time, at the clinically relevant levels. When levels go up, as they do in sepsis, we can detect that too. Sepsis is quite complex and difficult to diagnose but IL-6 is one of the best markers. With sepsis, the timing is key. For every hour that you delay the antibiotic treatment, the likelihood of death increases. It’s not just saving lives, a lot of people who survive sepsis suffer life changing effects, including limb loss, kidney failure and post-traumatic stress disorder. The test could stop a lot of suffering.”