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Quintain NanoSystems Announces Rapid Test for Meningococcal Disease |
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Quintain NS and RMIT University have developed a rapid diagnostic test for meningococcal disease, which will ultimately provide results in under 15 minutes.
Clinical tests that are used currently for the diagnosis of meningococcal disease take between 2 and 48 hours and often rely on the culturing of bacteria from either blood or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples. As the disease has a fatality risk approaching 15% within 12 hours of infection, early diagnosis and antibiotic treatment is crucial.
Quintain is working with Melbourne-based company Charlwood Design, to  produce a prototype clinical device that will incorporate a mechanism for safe sample handling and delivery. It is expected that the diagnostic test will be available within 2-3 years.
The filing of a worldwide patent, relating to the development work performed on the test by RMIT University, was announced at the AusBiotech 2007 conference in Brisbane in October. The story was also covered by Channel 9 National News and a number of local and national radio stations, including the ABC Radio National am program.
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