Microbioz India : May 2021 Healthcare Edition

Product Launches

“This analysis reinforces the clinical Biotage Launches
Microelution Sample
benefits of our technology compared to Preparation Workstation
blood culture for BSI diagnosis and
management,” says Aparna Ahuja, MD, Story source/Credit: Biotage
chief medical officer at T2 Biosystems.
“This provides compelling evidence that The new Biotage Extrahera LV-200 from
T2MR technology enables faster targeted Biotage, Uppsala, Sweden, is a compact,
treatment which can have a significant automated sample preparation workstation,
positive impact on patient care, dedicated to 96 well arrays for microelution
antimicrobial stewardship and cost technologies and classical supported liquid
management for hospitals that adopt it as extraction (SLE), solid phase extraction (SPE),
phospholipid detection (PLD), and protein
part of their sepsis protocols.” precipitation (PPT) formats. It is also a GLP
capable solution.
Current standard of care for patients suspected of Using its 8-channel pipette head, the LV-200 will
BSIs or sepsis requires 1-7 days to provide species precisely aspirate and dispense low volumes from
ID and susceptibility results. This information is 5mL to 800 mL. The new system enables users to
used by clinicians to target therapy and optimize streamline pipetting by selecting up to three
treatment of the identified infectious pathogen. T2 different pipette tips configurations within SLE or
Biosystems’ T2Bacteria and T2Candida panels are SPE workflows. Complete with comprehensive
the first and only FDA-cleared products able to clean-up methods for biological fluids, the system
provide results directly from whole blood in three comes pre-programmed with Biotage application
to five hours, often before the second dose of notes, user-friendly prompts to assist in method
empiric antibiotic therapy is administered, without building, and new features like “SMART” pipetting
the need to wait days for a positive blood culture. to prevent aspirating air into samples.

The time-savings associated with T2MR
technology provide meaningful clinical and
economic value for patients and hospitals. As
identified by the meta-analysis, ICU stay and
hospital stay were, on average, five days shorter in
patients receiving a diagnosis with the T2MR
panels as compared to blood cultures. The authors
conclude that in addition to significant clinical
improvements and efficiencies, this could
theoretically reduce hospital costs by up to $25,000
per patient tested.
For more information, visit T2 Biosystems.

Microbioz India, May 2021 Edition | 51

Product Launches These tests are also costly, they run a risk of cross-
contamination, and can take hours or days to
Like its predecessor, the Biotage Extrahera LV-200 provide results.
workstation has the same low maintenance design, RAPID was developed by a team led by César de la
intuitive software interface, and enhanced data Fuente, PhD, a presidential assistant professor in
management tools of the Extrahera family. The psychiatry, microbiology, chemical and
system’s compact footprint enables customers to biomolecular engineering, and bioengineering, to
optimize laboratory space. quickly and accurately detect the virus while
“Biotage Extrahera workstations have become remaining cheap enough to be widely accessible.
reliable workhorses within forensic, clinical, and An electrode printed using a screen printer—
doping laboratories worldwide. At their heart is a thousands of which can be printed in a day at very
robust positive pressure system for the consistent low cost—can detect the virus in nasal swab or
processing of all samples,” says Dan Menasco, saliva samples. The results can be read on a
PhD, global product manager, Biotage. “The new benchtop instrument or on a smartphone.
Biotage Extrahera LV-200 will help to transform “Prior to the pandemic, our lab was working on
automated sample preparation through its diagnostics for bacterial infections. But then,
precision engineering, intuitive software, and COVID-19 hit. We felt a responsibility to use our
flexible column/plate formats.” expertise to help—and the diagnostic space was
For more information, visit Biotage. ripe for improvements,” de la Fuente says. “We feel
Featured image: Biotage Extrahera LV-200 strongly about the health inequities witnessed
workstation (Courtesy: Biotage) during the pandemic, with testing access and the
vaccine rollout, for example. We believe
Rapid COVID-19 inexpensive diagnostic tests like RAPID could help
Diagnostic Test Delivers bridge some of those gaps.”
Fast, Accurate Results
RAPID technology is
Story source/Credit: Matter Callable

A low-cost, rapid diagnostic test for The RAPID technology uses electrochemical
COVID-19 developed by Penn Medicine impedance spectroscopy (EIS), which transforms
provides COVID-19 results within four the binding event between the SARS-CoV-2 viral
minutes with 90% accuracy. A paper published this spike protein and its receptor in the human body,
week in Matter details the fast and inexpensive the protein ACE2 (which provides the entry point
diagnostic test, called Real-time Accurate Portable for the coronavirus to hook into and infect human
Impedimetric Detection prototype 1.0 or RAPID cells), into an electrical signal that clinicians and
1.0. Compared to existing methods for COVID-19 technicians can detect. That signal allows the test to
detection, RAPID is inexpensive and highly discriminate between infected and healthy human
scalable, allowing the production of millions of samples. The signal can be read through a desktop
units per week. instrument or a smartphone.
Despite the urgency of the pandemic, most The team assessed the performance of RAPID
available methods for COVID-19 testing use RT- using both COVID-19 positive and negative
PCR—reverse transcription polymerase chain clinical samples from the Hospital of the University
reaction—to detect SARS-CoV-2. Though of Pennsylvania, including samples of the highly
effective, the technique requires large laboratory contagious UK B117 variant. In blinded tests, they
space and trained workers to employ. analyzed 139 nasal swab samples—109 of which
were COVID-19 positive and 30 COVID-19
negative, as determined by standard RT-PCR
clinical assessments. The team also analyzed 50
saliva samples from patients. For the nasal swab
samples, RAPID was 87.1% accurate. For saliva
samples, RAPID was 90% accurate.
RAPID provides results in four minutes, which is
faster than most methods currently available for
diagnosing COVID-19.

Microbioz India, May 2021 Edition | 52

Product Launches

For example, serological tests can take around 15 Brazil’s National Council for Scientific and
Technological Development (438828/2018-6,
to 20 minutes, and they are about 60 to 70% 401256/2020-0). A provisional patent application
has been filed on the technology described in this
accurate. In addition, RAPID is able to detect manuscript (Invention Disclosure 21-9515).

COVID-19 at extremely low concentrations (1.16 NXT Power Integrity Max
Provides Uninterrupted
PFU mL), which corresponds to a viral load that Power

correlates with the initial stages of COVID-19 Story source/Credit: NXT Power

(about two to three days after onset of symptoms). The NXT Power Integrity Max is an online
double conversion uninterruptable power
This is beneficial for detecting individuals at the supply system. Its sleek, ecofriendly design
is made to provide stable power for mission-critical
earliest stages of infection, allowing for rapid care applications with efficiency, durability, and
performance.
and the potential decrease of further viral spread.
The Integrity Max 2-10 kVA model is built to
“Quick and reliable tests like RAPID allow for power sophisticated computer loads—systems
with high inrush current and high crest factors in
high-frequency testing, which can help identify clinical diagnostic settings—to eliminate oversizing
and reduce operating costs. Its output receptacle
asymptomatic individuals who, once they learn they panel and input line cord can be customized for
faster and simpler onsite setup, and the unit is
are infected, will stay home and decrease spread. designed with a unique front door panel to provide
easy access to replace batteries to always ensure
We envision this type of test being able to be used uptime. All Integrity Max models are also UL listed
and CE marked.
at high-populated locations such as schools, For more information, visit NXT Power.

airports, stadiums, companies—or even in one’s

own home,” says first author Marcelo Der

Torossian Torres, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher

at Penn.

Importantly, the technology is affordable and

scalable. Each test, which can be performed at

room temperature, costs $4.67 to produce.

Additionally, the electrodes used in the test can be

quickly mass-produced using commercially

available screen-printers to print the circuit board

(named eChip). One laboratory-sized unit is able to

produce 35,000 electrodes daily (about 1.05 million

per month).

The team also constructed an electrode for RAPID

composed of filter paper, which is a more

accessible and inexpensive material. Named ePAD,

the researchers demonstrated the applicability of

ePAD for RAPID in a portable method, connected

to a smart device, which may enable further scale

and on-demand testing capabilities at the point-of-

care.

“Having low-cost tests which are quick and easy to

read extends testing to not only people who can

afford it, but to remote or disadvantaged areas,” de

la Fuente says.

De la Fuente lab’s research focuses primarily on

developing technologies that help understand,

prevent, and treat infectious diseases. Though

RAPID was developed as a COVID-19 test, the

technology can be used to detect other viruses and

diagnose a variety of diseases such as the flu or

sexually transmitted diseases.

The research was supported by the Nemirovsky

Prize, the Dean’s Innovation Fund from the

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of

Pennsylvania, Brazil’s Coordination for the

Improvement of Higher Education Personnel

(88887.479793/2020-00), São Paulo Research

Foundation (2018/08782-1),

FAEPEX/PRP/UNICAMP (3374/19), and

Microbioz India, May 2021 Edition | 53

Microbioz India, May 2021 Edition |

Microbioz India, May 2021 Edition |

PUBLISHED ON: 25th May 2021 RNI NUMBER: UPENG/2017/73675

Microbioz India, May 2021 Edition |