ST. LOUIS—The United States Department of Defense (USDD) granted $4.87 million to Washington University of Medicine (WashU) to support the development of a sepsis diagnostic tool.
At least 1.7 million Americans develop sepsis annually and over 20% die during hospitalization or are discharged to hospice, per the Center for Disease Control. Sepsis is a body’s extreme response to an infection and is a life-threatening medical emergency. The CDC adds that most sepsis cases begin outside of the hospital.
WashU is creating a handheld device and a clinical test to help physicians swiftly profile septic patients. With doctors being able to quickly determine if a patient falls into the the high-risk hyperinflammatory profile or the less severe hypoinflammatory profiles, they’re able to administer proper therapies says Pratik Sinha, MBChB, PhD, an assistant professor at WashU Medicine in a WashU article.
USDD’s grant to WashU will fund Sinha’s research team with the development of the device and clinical test.
“Developing a precise test and an affordable device to quickly identify patients with the high-risk hyperinflammatory profile is crucial for delivering targeted treatments and saving lives in critical situations when time matters,” said Sinha. “A highly portable device will enable deployment in active military and combat zones, where trauma increases the risk of infection and sepsis.”
Sinha and his colleagues previously published a study in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. This study of 3,000 critically ill people discovered that the blood levels of two particular inflammatory cytokines were reliable in identifying if a person has a low or high inflammatory response.
Cytokines are proteins released by cells to promote or reduce inflammation; the two that were identified in the study are interleukin-8 and soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor 1.
Taking a single treatment to all septic cases has been ineffective, per Sinha. After profiling septic patients based on the inflammatory cytokines, physicians noticed differing reactions to treatments between the two groups. Sinha believes separating patients into these two categories may allow for certain treatment options to return and unlock new options.
With the USDD funding, Sinha is collaborating with Srikanth Singamaneni, PhD, from the McKelvey School of Engineering at WashU to develop the diagnostic device.
Like a COVID-19 rapid antigent test, the Lateral Flow Test will take place on a test strip but instead detect the two cytokines using small particles that glow. The planned device will rapidly measure the cytokines by use of a camera.
The defense department says a portable device could be deployed in combat zones where trauma increases the risk of sepsis. Researchers aim to make the test and device affordable.
“We hope to fill a need in critical care that will help bring more effective treatments to more patients.”
