Sepsis, a potentially life-threatening inflammatory condition triggered by infection, kills 1400 people every day worldwide and over 500,000 people annually in the western world. It is common, it is deadly and it is expensive; responsible for more deaths than HIV, breast and bowel cancer combined, it costs the UK/US ~£20Bn annually. However, if it is caught early, it can be treated, but for every hour that sepsis remains undiagnosed, the risk of death increases by 8%.
The RAPPIDS disgnostic tool is a fully-integrated, rapid multiplexed pathogen/biomarker immunodiagnostic device for rapid detection (<15 min) of sepsis at the point-of-care. The technology will accept blood samples as collected by a doctor/nurse, remove blood cells, and concentrate the remaining plasma for subsequent immunosensor detection, all within a single, automated, self-contained process.
RAPPIDS development is led by Magna Parva and is part funded by the Technology Strategy Board in collaboration with Cardiff University, AET and Chelsea Technology.
