Multiplex Point of Care detection of sepsis pathogens, using biochip array technology

在英国，脓毒症导致3万人死亡，每年花费英国国民健康保险制度4亿英镑。它在医学界之外鲜为人知，但它是导致住院患者死亡的第三大常见原因，仅次于心脏病和癌症。当血液中的感染导致免疫系统失去平衡，免疫系统开始攻击身体而不是保护身体时，就会发生这种情况。许多感染可能会引发败血症，但使用正确的抗生素进行快速治疗往往可以防止它变成严重的败血症。技术战略委员会正在支持一批教学医院(圣托马斯和纽卡斯尔)与BD(一家总部设在牛津的美国医疗保健公司)合作开发一种快速测试，可以帮助医生在疾病的关键早期阶段选择正确的治疗方法。这将拯救生命，并降低英国国民健康保险制度(NHS)因脓毒症而付出的巨额成本。

Sepsis kills 30 000 people in the UK and costs the NHS £400 million per year. It is little known outside the medical profession but is the third most common cause of death in hospitalised patients outside of heart disease and cancer. It happens when an infection in the bloodstream tips the immune system out of balance and this system starts to attack the body rather than protect it. Many infections can potentially trigger sepsis but rapid treatment with the right antibiotic can often prevent it turning into serious sepsis. The Technology Strategy Board is supporting a group of teaching hospitals (St Thomas’s & Newcastle) in their work with BD (a US Heathcare Company with a base in Oxford) to develop a rapid test which can help doctors choose the right treatment during the critical early stages of the disease. This will save lives and reduce the huge cost of sepsis to the NHS.