Universal Sensors, Nottingham Trent University and Cambridge Design Partnership to help in the fight against the hospital superbugs, C.difficile and MRSA.
Universal Sensors Ltd (Cambridge, UK), Nottingham Trent University (Nottingham, UK) and Cambridge Design Partnership (Cambridge, UK) have entered into a strategic alliance to develop a hand-held system to detect the hospital superbugs, C.difficile and MRSA. The collaboration is funded through the new Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI), in contracts that were awarded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Invention for Innovation (i4i) Programme, the results of which were announced on 15th May 2009.
The control of Health Care Associated Infections (HCAIs) and improving the cleanliness of hospitals are primary objectives for the UK's National Health Service (NHS), but reducing the incidence of HCAIs from our hospitals has been a challenge. In 2008, the NHS spent £53 million undertaking a comprehensive "deep clean" of every hospital in the UK and many NHS Trusts are now reporting a decrease in the incidence of both C.difficile and MRSA as a result of this and other initiatives implemented by dedicated Infection Control teams.
As well as increasing the quality of healthcare, there are also significant economic benefits to reducing the incidence of HCAIs; for every patient infected with MRSA, the additional burden to the NHS is an extra 10 days in hospital for the patient, whereas for C.difficile, this can rise to 21 days. This costs the NHS £4,000-£10,000 per infected patient. Systematic processes for cleaning are therefore vital to control HCAIs. But it is no easy task to ensure that an area decontaminated by cleaning after an outbreak is really free from live bacteria or C.difficile spores, as there are no quick and simple environmental tests available.
Universal Sensors, in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University and Cambridge Design Partnership, are working to create an environmental testing device to make this process fast and simple to perform for use in hospitals and in the community. The result will be a new a highly sensitive biosensor-based product that can detect pathogens in 5 minutes (traditional tests have to be performed in a specialised laboratory and can take 2-3 days to get the results back to the Infection Control team).
"The impact that this new product could have on HCAI control is significant." stated Dr Graham Cooley, CEO of Universal Sensors Ltd. "The ability to place greater control into the hands of HCAI Control Specialists will be a real benefit: it will allow the Infection Control Team to know within 5 minutes whether an area is safe for a patient to occupy and it can be used by workers who do not possess specialist training."
The collaboration was assembled by Cambridge Design Partnership who had worked with Universal Sensors in the development of the manufacturing technique for their unique sensors. The combination of the sensor technology with Cambridge Design Partnership's platform for hand-held devices could be a real step forward. Cambridge Design Partnership's hand-held platform is a powerful but low cost micro-processor-based technology, developed by the company over several years. Versions of this platform have already been incorporated into products such as: Satmap's Active 10TM GPS product which uses Ordnance SurveyTM maps to help those who enjoy outdoors sports and the driver-friendly Road AngelTM system.
Re-applying this platform technology for use with the Universal Sensor detection system allowed the creation of a new mobile device for performing immunoassays (ELISA or enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) and tests for DNA from pathogenic organisms. This platform will be developed to comply with the applicable EU directives for medical devices (In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices Directive 98/79/EC) and FDA requirements for a Class II Medical Devices in the USA (market clearance by 510(k) premarket notification) as well as being CE marked and UL approved as a laboratory instrument.
"The development of a mobile test platform is an important corner stone of this collaboration", commented Dr Duncan Purvis, CSO of Universal Sensors, "but we also needed leading research scientists who could develop tests for HCAIs and we are delighted that Dr Alan McNally of Nottingham Trent University agreed to collaborate with us. New tests developed by Dr McNally will be integrated into our mobile product platform which is called eLISATM (electronically linked immunosorbent assay). Dr McNally is a highly respected leader in the development of assays for infection control and is part of a research programme leading to the development of a portable test for bird flu."
Dr McNally explained "I was deeply impressed when I first saw the power and potential of the Universal Sensor technology. It is the capability that I have been seeking for some time. Its speed, sensitivity and flexibility means that this technology can be applied to a range of different assays (tests) as well as for MRSA and C.difficile, and I am very pleased to be able to make a contribution in developing a new product for infection control."
The development programmes of this SBRI project, which are funded by the NIHR through the i4i Programme are to be undertaken in two phases. The consortium anticipates completion of this first phase within 6 months and intends to take the eLISA system into production by the end of 2010.
Ends
Nottingham Trent University
Dr Alan McNally
School of Science and Technology
Nottingham Trent University, Clifton campus
Nottingham, NG11 8NS
United Kingdom
t: +44 115 848 3324
e : alan.mcnally@ntu.ac.uk
w : www.ntu.ac.uk
Cambridge Design Partnership
Matt Schumann, Director
Church Road, Toft
Cambridge, CB23 2RF
United Kingdom
t: +44 1223 264 428
e: news@cambridge-design.co.uk
w: www.cambridge-design.co.uk
Universal Sensors Ltd, the leading developer and manufacturer of high performance biosensors, has announced the appointment of Dr Graham Cooley as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect.
Prior to joining Universal Sensors, Graham was CEO of Metalysis Ltd, and before that CEO of Antenova Ltd. Graham spent 14 years in the power industry and was Business Development Manager for National Power PLC and International Power PLC.
He said, ‘At Universal Sensors we’re about to move into commercial operation with our new and really exciting technology. Joining the company at such a significant stage in its development is a great opportunity and a challenge I relish. By building upon the significant achievements of our highly talented staff and developing our market relationships, I intend to drive forward the company’s global development to the stage where it is the market leader’.
David Willetts Chairman of Universal Sensors said ‘We are delighted to have Graham join Universal Sensors at this pivotal moment for the company. With our technology proven and our first international joint ventures in place the company is ready for significant development.’
Universal Sensors, based near Cambridge, is contracted to Sensortec Limited for the development and commercialisation of the Sensortec IP for use in the environmental testing and food quality assurance sectors. A project has also been undertaken to develop a multianalyte POU system for the clinical and veterinary diagnostics market.
Please visit the "News" section within the "Downloads" area of the site to see the Press Release.
Sensortec collaborates on ‘track side’ drug testing for horses
Biosensor company Sensortec Ltd and drug surveillance and contract research laboratory HFL Ltd, are collaborating to provide instant, on-site drugs testing for race horses.
Universal Sensors of Cambridge, which is contracted by Sensortec to carry out all R&D on its proprietary biosensor technology, is working with HFL to provide the test system to support the work of the Horse Regulatory Authority (HRA).
Currently, drugs testing rely on retrospective sample analysis at off-site laboratories, which result in expense and results that can take days if not weeks. The HFL/Sensortec collaboration will develop tests to provide near instant results on-site at race meets. The system will be based on Sensortec’s low-cost biosensor platform that provides low-cost, point-of-use diagnostics. A significant advantage of the system is the ability to handle undiluted plasma samples, and there is no pre-analysis sample preparation required. This, together with the speed with which an ELISA method can be translated to the system, provides a package that can turn around results very quickly.
Assays for a number of drugs have been developed and validated by HFL with sensitivity in the parts per billion range.
Sensortec and MiniFAB form international collaboration
Biosensor company Sensortec Ltd and microfluidics specialist MiniFAB are collaborating to provide a faster and lower cost microfluidic biosensor development platform for R&D laboratories.
Universal Sensors of Cambridge, which is contracted by Sensortec to carry out all R&D on its proprietary biosensor technology, is working with MiniFAB (Melbourne, Australia) on the development and marketing of the platform. The collaboration will allow other developers to build upon this expertise to transfer their assays onto low-cost polymer microfluidic biosensor platforms, allowing more rapid development of point-of-use diagnostic devices.
MiniFAB is a privately owned micro and nano fabrication company based in Melbourne, Australia. Established in 2002, and representing more than 60 combined years of experience in the area, MiniFAB’s business is the design, integration and manufacture of polymer micro-engineered systems for the biotech, health, agri-food, and environmental sectors. The company works with clients to develop product strategies, create manufacturing methods, and provide pilot and batch scale manufacturing to meet regulatory compliance testing. MiniFAB offers innovative solutions for the integration of biosensors and other bio-handling and manipulation devices incorporating lab-on-a-chip microfluidics, detection, sample preparation and system packaging. MiniFAB’s is able to provide of volume manufacturing capacity and also works with clients to create of joint ventures for new business opportunities.
MiniFAB (Aust) Pty Ltd, 1 Dalmore Drive, Scoresby, Victoria 3179 Australia
Grant and Universal Sensors forge manufacturing partnership thanks to East of England IRC
Please visit the "New" section within the "Downloads" area of the site to see the relevant weblink
3rd November 2006
Sensortec wins exclusive contract with DXTech
Please visit the "News" section within the "Downloads" area of the site to see the Sensortec/DXTech Press Release.
19th October 2004
Sensortec have filed a new patent application outlining a novel method of electrochemical measurement, which can be used on potentiometric sensors other than our own. This method allows for better precision and subsequently higher sensitivity and therefore faster analysis.
Other methods based on our sensors are also being investigated which show potential for even greater sensitivity. Using these new advances; the current 15 minute detection record using our QC assay is; 5ppt Horse Radish Peroxidase (~125fM), spanning 5 orders of magnitude too 50ppm. These advances have yet to be transferred too real assays and samples
10th August 2004
We have recently achieved an extraordinary detection level in milk of less than 25ppt for a small molecule (~300Da) (i.e < 70pM), this is without sample preparation and in less than 15minutes.
This will allow fast point-of-use measurement in complex sample matrices at levels well below regulatory limits for raw unprocessed food. This achievement also allows measurement of contaminants in, for example; processed baby food without the need for sample clarification and concentration. Regulatory limits for contaminants in baby food are the toughest there is. The best commercial immunoassays available CANNOT achieve this level of detection, they have detection limits of ~50ppt and take a minimum of 3.5hrs including sample preparation
