A cheaper way for diagnosing Tuberculosis
One of the major barriers for treating Tuberculosis on time and saving patients is the fact that the diagnosis of the disease takes a lot of time and is expensive.Tuberculosis is an infectious disease affecting the lungs and leading to deaths in most cases. It is responsible for up to 2 million deaths annually.
The diagnosis process can take up to 57 days and is very expensive which makes it unavailable for the developing countries where the number of cases is the highest in the world. The most affected areas are in Africa because the disease is prone to affect more people with darker skin.
The researchers group of this study used a micro calorimeter in order to detect the growth rate of the bacteria responsible for Tuberculosis (Mycobacterium Tuberculosis).
A micro calorimeter is often used by researchers to measure the heat given during a chemical or biological process. In this case, researchers used it to measure the heat given during the growth of the bacteria. The level of temperature was converted into an electrical signal which was recorded by a computer. The next step is for the computer to produce a graphical print unique for each bacterium. An important benefit from this method is that a person can be tested at the same time for different types of bacterium.
The researchers managed to come up with results for the samples taken in a much shorter period of time: between 5.5 and 12.5 days.
The results of this research are every important not only for helping patients get diagnosed in a much shorter period of time, but also because it can be used to measure the impact of an antibiotic over an infection (if no growth of the bacteria is signaled, then the medicine can be used to fight that certain infection).
Researchers have already sent micro calorimeters to Tanzania in order to test their theory in the real world and they hope to have this method already developed and in place, by the end of the year.
The research has been published in the journal "Journal of Applied Microbiology".
