Electronic nose for intestinal infection

A device has been created for the rapid detection of pathogenic gastric bacteria
Elvira Koshkina, Compulenta  

Scientists from the University of Bristol and the University of the West of England (both in the UK) have developed a device that detects pathogenic bacteria of the gastrointestinal tract in a few minutes.

The OdoReader device is able to quickly recognize Clostridium difficile, an anaerobic gram–positive bacillus, the main etiological factor of antibiotic-associated diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis, which is rapidly spreading in hospitals.

In patients, especially those who have been in the hospital for a long time, the bacterium causes serious disorders. Every year, the fight against Clostridium difficile costs British healthcare 200 million pounds.

OdoReader analyzes the gases evaporated by the patient's stool samples in just an hour and detects a harmful bacterium. Fast and inexpensive diagnostics will save millions of people from infection and help prevent the spread of gastrointestinal infectious diseases, which affect more than 4 billion children and adults every year. In England and Wales, more than 50 thousand cases of infection with Clostridium difficile are registered every year.

In January, the Wellcome Trust Foundation allocated £1.3 million to researchers to test a new device. Testing of OdoReader prototypes will last three years. Commercial production of the novelty is planned to be established in 2012-2013.

Prepared based on the materials of the University of Bristol.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru08.02.2010