Acenxion BLUe Technology

DIRECT DETECTION IS ALWAYS FASTER.

Current automated commercial methods for detecting microbes in a patient’s sample, usually blood, are based on indirect detection. Instead of actually detecting the microbes, current machines are designed to detect by-products of their metabolism. Given the incredibly small amount of by-product produced by microbes — this takes time — frequently days.

The slow time-to-results from current methods is why AST is infrequently used. And, that same slow time-to-results from current tests is why over 250,000 die from sepsis each year in the United States waiting for AST results.

It's a bit like your phone's touch screen.

Modern touch screen smart phones are based on capacitance and the fact that human skin can hold an electric charge. Likewise, the cell membrane of bacteria and other microbes can also store an electric charge. In solution, you measure this charge in the cell membranes by comparing the stored charge in the portion of the solution where microbes are located with the stored charge in the rest of the liquid solution. “Our method for detecting viable bacteria in suspensions is based on the fact that, in the presence of high-frequency alternating-current (AC) electric fields, there occurs a buildup of charge at the cell membrane of viable cells, causing these cells to behave like electrical capacitors.”(1) To do this requires microfluidic channels, and this is one of the reasons Acenxion’s technology is so fast. By combining microfluidic channels with patented electrical signal methods, Acenxion is able to detect pathogens at much lower concentrations resulting in significantly faster time-to-detection.

Acenxion’s technology promises the speed needed to save lives and money.

In a recent set of laboratory experiments, Acenxion’s current prototype consistently returned AST results against the CLSI standards in four hours. Sometimes even faster. Here is the graph showing Acenxion’s prototype make a grow/no-grow call on K pneumonia in two hours! Even we were stunned by this speed. Acenxion’s technology can revolutionize antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

Sepsis is a scourge in the hospital. An extensively cited study by Kumar and colleagues, and subsequently confirmed by similar studies, estimates that every hour an appropriate, targeted antibiotic therapy is delayed results in an increase of 5-10% to the mortality risk for a sepsis patient. The result is an in-hospital mortality rate of 16%. This is eight times higher than other diagnoses.(2) And, irrespective of the ultimate patient outcome, medical care for sepsis has a high price tag.

“The most recent report on sepsis by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality revealed that sepsis related hospital stays increased by 153% between 1993 and 2009, with an average annual increase of 6%. Sepsis is also the single-most expensive reason for hospitalization, with an annual cost estimated in excess of $20 billion.” (2)

It's already fully automated.

What’s great about this for clinical laboratories is that our prototype is already fully automated. The time series data in the graph above was automatically collected by one of our early prototypes; and, Acenxion’s  proprietary software algorithm made the grow/no-grow call independent of any user interactions. Once the cassette was loaded with the sample and placed in the prototype, our lab personnel went on with other work until the laptop signaled the call. And our devices will only keep getting better.

Scalable design for existing clinical laboratory workflows.

Our prototype is already automated and the underlying design allows it to be easily scalable with a single control unit for input, output, and signal processing connected to a series of cassette holding units.

This allows Acenxion’s technology to be ideal for clinical laboratory work. Start with the capacity your lab requires and easily expand to meet your laboratory’s growing needs.

We’re extremely excited about what we’re developing and confident that as we refine our prototypes, we will produce a device ideal for surveillance work and clinical laboratories.