Pneumonia is a leading cause of death in children worldwide. Over 2 million children die from pneumonia each year and one child dies every 20 seconds. The problem with current diagnosis methods is one of sampling. Mouth and nose samples have contaminating bacteria, which result in many false positives. Additionally, the samples are unable to identify the pathogen, hospital stays are lengthened increasing the chances that cases will become complicated. Since the pathogen cannot be identified, patients receive broad-spectrum antibiotics, which are often unnecessary and can cause antibiotic resistance. Other methods, such as a chest x-ray, can identify fluid in the lungs, but cannot identify the specific pathogen causing the pneumonia.
PneumoniaCheck uses fluid mechanics to separate the upper airway particles from the lower airway particles. The separation means that only a lung specimen is captured on the filter at the end of the device. This filter can then be analyzed using traditional microbiology methods or more sensitive molecular DNA analysis to identify the specific pathogen causing pneumonia, or other lower respiratory infections. The ability to identify the specific pathogen will allow for more targeted antibiotic treatment or none at all if viral, which should reduce antibiotic resistance and other complications. PneumoniaCheck is an easy-to-use, noninvasive, disposable solution for collecting respiratory specimens to help reduce one of the world’s largest health problems.
APDC provided funding and device development expertise to create this revolutionary product for use in children. The pediatricians and device designers will provide important information in the next quarter. When the project joined the consortium the device was in the concept stage of development.