{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"MedTech Speed to Data","title":"Design as a Platform for Future Assay Tests : 33","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/e9b69055\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2146,"description":"Astek Diagnostics is a Baltimore-based MedTech startup developing a platform for diagnosing urinary tract infections (UTIs) with unprecedented speed and accuracy.In Episode #33, Key Tech’s Andy Rogers and Lauren Eskew discuss this exciting development with Astek Diagnostics co-founder and CEO Dr. Mustafa Al-Adhami.Need to knowUTIs are proliferating — Within thirty years, global cases rose 90% to over 400 million cases[CC1] , with over 8 million hospital visits in the US alone. Rapid tests are unreliable — Low-specificity dipsticks have high false-positive rates.Clinical tests are slow — Labs take up to three days to return results.Incorrect prescriptions are common — Physicians initially choose the wrong antibiotics in half of patients, delaying effective treatment.UTI complications are lethal — 25% of sepsis cases start as UTIs, leading to 68,000 deaths in the US[CC2] .Slow, inaccurate diagnoses breed resistant bacteria — Delaying the use of effective antibiotics contributes to the severe threat of antimicrobial resistance.The nitty-grittyDr. Al-Adhami’s entrepreneurial journey began with a personal crisis two months before receiving his biomedical engineering Ph.D. when his grandfather developed a UTI.“It took the doctors four days to tell him what antibiotic he should be using,” Dr. Al-Adhami said. “In the meantime, he was in pain. He was delirious. He fell and broke his hip. I kid you not, he was a young 87-year-old. Within one week, he was a much, much older, bedridden 87-year-old. [While] helping with his care, I was like, if we were able to give him the proper antibiotic right away, we would not be here!”Such strong motivation led to a one-hour test for use in a urology or OB/GYN clinic. The system has two components: a single-use sample cartridge and a durable microfluidics fluorescent analyzer that characterizes antibiotic susceptibility[CC3] . Astek’s tabletop prototype already achieves 97% specificity and 94% sensitivity — results that would...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/D6hMCysuuZpZO9MQfRbgtr2o9UZ_Mtc0h1qVAxU8GII/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83MGQ2/N2MwMDdmNTRmOTRl/M2Y0MTcyNjAwN2Mz/OWRlZi5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}