Warfare technology 'detects infection'

It normally takes days to identify bugs like E-coli

A government agency has developed a powerful medical device which can instantly diagnose many infectious and life-threatening diseases.

The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency has teamed up with a private company to make the technology commercially available.

They will work together to develop an "automated medical instrument" which will provide rapid diagnosis of infectious disease and direct doctors on what antiobiotics should be used to treat the condition.

The technology could revolutionise the way healthcare systems around the world treat bacterial diseases like E-coli and superbugs like MRSA.

It means these conidtions could be diagnosed within a couple of hours rather than the three days it takes at the moment.

Doctors will be able to prescribe the right treatment first time within hours of a patient entering hospital

Bill Mullen, Acolyte Biomedica

A spokesman for DERA said the technology would save lives and quicken patient recovery which in turn will free up hospital beds.

The technology is based on research carried out by DERA into ways of protecting the armed forces from biological weapon attack.

It is based on a technique known as AK Phage. This uses bacteriophages, special viruses that infect particular bacteria, to identify the cause of an infection.

The technique involves isolating individual bacteria from a clinical sample and testing them for specific bacteriophages,

When the correct "phage" is present, the bacteria break open, releasing the enzyme adenylate kinase (AK) from the cells.

This enzyme can be detected and analysed within just a few hours, allowing doctors to identify the bacteria and, therefore, the particular infection.

The test can also be used to determine whether a specific antibiotic will work for a particular patient.

This ensure doctors prescribe the correct treatment in the shortest time possible. At the moment, doctors may have to try a number of antibiotics before they get the right one.

The device will be developed and sold by a new company called Acolyte Biomedica Ltd - a joint venture between DERA and Angle Technology, a US company which specialises in making new technology commercially available.

Acolyte director Dr Bill Mullen predicted the device will revolutionies health care.

"Acolyte's instrument system will revolutionise the management of serious infectious diseases.

"Doctors will be able to prescribe the right treatment first time within hours of a patient entering hospital."

Dr Nigel Higson, a GP in Brighton and an expert in infectious diseases, said the technology would have significant benefits.

"It would certainly speed things up and it would be greatly advantageous to healthcare administration as well as prescribing.

"It would mean that we could prescribe within a couple of hours instead of waiting a couple of days.

"After a couple of days, we may have prescribed a drug anyway which may be inappropriate and which, in turn, contributes to the development of superbugs."