MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Specific Technologies, developer of the SpecID™ system to rapidly detect and identify bacterial species and strain via a metabolomic fingerprint, today announced that for the first time it will showcase its transformative SpecID blood culture system at the 114th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, May 17-20, 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The SpecID system will be featured in the Specific Technologies booth #1407.
The SpecID blood culture system determines species and strain, combining incubation, detection, and identification into one fully automated step in a blood culture bottle. As a result, the SpecID system detects blood infection more than four times faster — two days sooner— than conventional blood culture practices. This approach contrasts with all other systems in current use in which characterization of the specific bacteria species requires additional steps, additional sample preparation, and expense. Further, the SpecID system delivers identification before current methods can simply detect a positive presence of infection.
Bloodstream infection causing sepsis is the most expensive condition treated in hospitals; in the U.S. alone sepsis leads to more than $20 billion in health care costs annually. Sepsis is the 10th leading cause of death, killing more than prostate cancer, breast cancer, and HIV/AIDS combined, and is responsible for 11 percent of intensive care unit admissions with a mortality rate estimated at 28 to 50 percent.
“We’re looking forward to debuting the SpecID system at ASM, a meeting that draws thousands of attendees who will find great value in our fully automated system that simplifies a traditionally multistep process,” said Dr. Paul Rhodes, Chief Executive Officer of Specific Technologies and ASM poster author. “Sepsis mortality increases every hour until the effective antibiotic is determined. It’s important for clinical microbiologists to learn about SpecID, which has the proven capability to characterize blood infection while also identifying bacteria species and strain.”
During the 2014 ASM General Meeting, two posters will illustrate the advanced application of the SpecID technology. One poster will report on new study results demonstrating discrimination of bacterial strain suggesting a new paradigm for the detection of hospital acquired infection (HAI) as well as the capability to track strains of resistant bacteria, a problem of growing magnitude worldwide. A second poster will show how the technology readily distinguished differential susceptibility with the measurements accurately predicting antibiotic susceptibility.
The following are details for each poster:
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Title: |
Rapid Determination of Antibiotic Influence and Susceptibility by Assessment of Volatile Metabolites | |
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Session: |
209/Susceptibility: Gram-Negative (Division C) | |
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Presentation: |
#2540 | |
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Date/Time: |
Tuesday, May 20, 2014 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM ET | |
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Location: |
Exhibit Hall B | |
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Title: |
Differentiation of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in blood cultures using Colorimetric Sensor Arrays |
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Session: |
182/Identification: Gram-Positive – Non Molecular (Division C) | |
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Presentation: |
#2051 | |
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Date/Time: |
Tuesday, May 20, 2014 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM ET | |
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Location: |
Exhibit Hall B | |
About the SpecID Technology
During growth in culture bacteria produce small molecule volatile metabolites unique to their species and strain. Specific Technologies has developed the SpecID system, a new paradigm for identifying microorganisms from the metabolomic signature of organism outgas into culture headspace.
Using a chemical fingerprint that combines detection and identification into a simple, automated single step with a low-cost disposable printed sensory array, the SpecID system delivers both detection and species identification results in one simultaneous step, both less expensively and well before molecular and mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF) methods.
In a proof-of-principle paper published online in January 2014 in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology researchers demonstrated that the SpecID fingerprint discriminates between highly similar strains of Staphylococcus aureus, indicating that the metabolomic fingerprint is not just species specific but strain-specific as well. The SpecID system requires no additional instruments, no additional labor, and no new process steps.
About Specific Technologies
Specific Technologies has developed in vitro systems for rapid identification of cells and is applying this fundamental new platform to the detection and characterization of microorganisms causing blood infection. The company is also exploring applications for antibiotic drug discovery and the identification of tumor cells by type and mutation variant. The company’s unique, patented metabolomic signature technology leverages a low-cost printed sensor to identify cell type down to the strain level. Specific Technologies is located in Mountain View, CA.
For additional information, please visit www.specifictechnologies.net.
The Specific Technologies logo, Specific Technologies, and SpecID are registered trademarks or trademarks of Specific Technologies, Inc. in various jurisdictions.