Urinary Tract Infection rapid screening:

The elderly has a higher risk of contracting urinary tract infection (UTI) than the general population. Typical ailments, impairments and incontinence/diaper usage can make collection of urine samples for analysis and diagnosis difficult.

A non-invasive rapid screening point-of-care system was developed to avoid:

-       unnecessary catheterization which is unpleasant, may inadvertently cause infections and can often not be used on patients with dementia, as I can be perceived as an assault.

-       overuse of antibiotics that may increase antibiotic resistance of bacteria,

The system consists of a paper-based microfluidic colorimetric assay with a patented layer structure compatible with commercially available diapers, and a smartphone application for analysis of colorimetric results. The device is capable of automatic urine sampling from a diaper (using absorbent media) and isolates sample from environmental influence and evaporation (swelling valves).

The device is specifically made to provide a non-invasive solution for automatic sampling and testing urine samples, and the target customers are (home care, hospital, care facility) nurses, or private users (through pharmacy). Nurses working with elderly care, have reported that they spend a large amount of time inefficiently struggling with managing UTI for their patients.

We have patented the technology in Europe and China, and we have established facilities for small scale production. The technology is being prepared for CE IVD certification, and we are looking for certified fabrication partners, or other business partners for scale-up and commercialization.

Figure 1 Diaper assay device, photo

Figure 2 App, Colorimetric marker recognition

Figure 3 App, screening results presentation