Researchers at West Lafayette, Ind.-based Purdue University created a diagnostic tool that can detect blood infections in as little as 20 minutes, according to a study published in the journal Analytical Chemistry.
The tool visually identifies if an infection is present in a blood sample by referring to a digital library that researchers created of every infection's specific "fingerprint."
"In 20 minutes [the tool] identifies what kind of infection they have and what antibiotic or antifungal medication we should give them," study author Mohamed Seleem, PhD, a professor of microbiology in Purdue University's College of Veterinary Medicine, said in a press release. "Doing this without giving patients the wrong treatment or creating antimicrobial resistance is really novel."
Dr. Seleem will conduct further research to refine the technique and confirm it works on the six most common bloodstream infections. He received a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to aid these efforts.