24 Sep SMARTPHONE, M.D. : A NEW APP TO DIAGNOSE URINARY TRACT INFECTIONS

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Michael J. Mahan PhD
Professor, Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
Dept of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology
University of California, Santa Barbara, CA

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?

Response: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) cause nearly 10 million doctor visits each year in the United States. Women are much more likely to have a UTI than men, and are particularly harmful to pregnant women and can cause miscarriage. Thus, there is a medical need for rapid, low-cost, on-site testing — particularly in resource-limited settings.

We developed a new app that enables a smartphone to identify (ID) bacteria causing UTIs in just one hour — a fraction of the time and cost of clinical diagnostics.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: A head-to-head comparison of urine from patients revealed that our smartphone-based system matched that of clinical diagnostics in a fraction of the time. A sample of the patient’s urine is analyzed by the smartphone app using the phone’s camera and the diagnostic kit. No additional specialty materials are required.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this work?

Response: 1). Smartphone-based clinical trials to determine the feasibility of rapid, low cost diagnosis and treatment of UTIs at the point-of-care (local clinics). 2) Configuring the app and lab kit for blood and intestinal infections.

Citation: Barnes, L. V, D.M. Heithoff, S.P. Mahan, G.N. Fox, A. Zambrano, J. Choe, L.N. Fitzgibbons, J.D. Marth, J.C. Fried, H.T. Soh, M.J. Mahan. Smartphone-based pathogen diagnosis in urinary sepsis patients. EbioMedicine. (2018). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ebiom.2018.09.001

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Last Updated on September 25, 2018 by Marie Benz MD FAAD