Development of the NeutroCheck diagnostic device to enable remote triage of chemotherapy patients at risk of neutropenic sepsis

中性粒细胞减少性脓毒症（NS）是癌症化疗中一种危及生命的并发症。它的发生是因为化疗暂时抑制了免疫系统，特别是中性粒细胞，在此期间，即使是轻微的疾病对患者来说也可能是致命的。因此，如果任何化疗患者发烧或感觉不适，建议他们去医院，以防他们可能发展为NS。国家指导要求疑似NS患者在入院后一小时内接受挽救生命的抗生素治疗，因为每延迟一小时死亡风险就会增加。然而，当前的路径存在两个重要问题。首先，由于在识别有患病风险的患者方面的延误和效率低下，大约一半的患者在到达医院后一小时内没有获得挽救生命的抗生素。其次，超过一半的住院患者中性粒细胞正常，因此不一定需要紧急评估和治疗。NeutroCheck解决方案包括一个创新的设备和应用程序，可以准确识别可能有NS风险的化疗患者。我们的低成本设备使用手指刺血来快速准确地测量中性粒细胞和败血症标志物水平。这将使卫生专业人员能够将他们的护理重点放在真正不舒服的病人身上，并确保那些可以避免住院治疗的癌症患者能够安全地这样做。NeutroCheck将通过早期使用抗生素和减少不必要的急诊就诊来挽救生命，提高生活质量并为NHS节省数百万英镑。在这个项目中，NeutroCheck的发明者52 North Health将与剑桥大学医院NHS基金会信托基金、UnifAI技术、英国败血症信托基金和麦克米伦癌症支持中心合作，完成NeutroCheck的开发并获得监管部门的批准，以便患者和卫生专业人员能够获得其广泛的好处。

Neutropenic sepsis (NS) is a life-threatening complication of cancer chemotherapy. It occurs because chemotherapy temporarily suppresses the immune system, particularly neutrophil cells, and even mild illnesses can be fatal for patients during this time. As a result, if any chemotherapy patient has a fever or feels unwell they are advised to attend hospital, just in case they may be developing NS.National guidance mandates patients with suspected NS receive life-saving antibiotics within one hour of entering hospital as risk of death increases with each hour's delay. However, two important problems exist in the current pathway. Firstly, due to delays and inefficiencies in identifying those at risk of the condition, around half of patients do not receive life-saving antibiotics within one hour of arriving at hospital. Secondly, more than half of patients attending hospital have normal neutrophils, so did not necessarily need emergency assessment and treatment.The NeutroCheck solution includes an innovative device and app that will enable accurate identification of chemotherapy patients who may be at risk of NS. Our low-cost device uses a fingerprick of blood to provide a rapid and accurate measurement of neutrophil and sepsis marker levels. This will enable health professionals to focus their care on truly unwell patients and ensure that those cancer patients who can avoid hospital attendance can safely do so.NeutroCheck will save lives by enabling earlier antibiotic delivery and reduce unnecessary emergency hospital visits, improving quality of life and saving the NHS millions of pounds.In this project, 52 North Health, the creators of NeutroCheck, will collaborate with Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UnifAI Technology, The UK Sepsis Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support to finish developing and gain regulatory approval for NeutroCheck so that patients and health professionals can access its wide-ranging benefits.