A new point of care (POC) test for Urinary tract infections (UTI)

A urinary tract infection (UTI) is caused by microorganisms in the urinary tract[1]. The high prevalence of UTIs across the UK has led to it being identified as a priority area by the NHS. The cause of the majority of UTIs is through microorganism E. coli exacerbated by its antibiotic resistance. The clinical burden of UTIs is high across all areas of healthcare, due to the high number of resources to test and treat the high volume of patients affected. In Primary and community care the dipstick test is the most widely and convenient test used at point of care. Whilst the dipstick method is easy to use it is known to have several significant drawbacks, foremost of which are the inaccuracies of its results. Despite these drawbacks other more accurate methods such as laboratory testing also have drawbacks such as significant time delays and costs associated with sending the samples away for testing. Additionally, due to the inaccuracies of the dipstick test and the cost and time constraints of laboratory testing, diagnosis of UTIs in the community and GP practices is primarily done using a symptoms-based approach as per national guideline recommendations. Llusern Scientific, a company based in Pontypridd, Wales, have developed a molecular testing platform and assay for the purpose of diagnosing UTIs at the point of care (POC). The Llusern test was designed for use in primary and community care. This test is portable and returns a result within 40 minutes. Llusern Scientific in partnership with Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board (CTMUHB), Public Health Wales (PHW) and other collaborators have conducted clinical evaluations of their innovation as part of the Bevan Commission Planned Care Innovation Programme. The TriTech Institute were commissioned to evaluate the potential clinical impact of the Llusern test with primary and community care clinicians.