Development of Sensor Catheter to Provide Real Time Diagnosis and Monitoring of Sepsis

Severe sepsis (where the body’s response to infection has started to interfere with the function of vital organs) is a major cause of morbidity & mortality, claiming 36,000 - 64,000 lives annually in the UK. Globally, a US study estimated 3.0 cases to occur per 1000 population per year, or 20m cases per year. Because of problems with vital organs, people with severe sepsis are likely to be very ill, and approximately 30-50% will die as a result of the condition. There is no reliable way to prevent sepsis, and no vaccine. The key to saving lives lies in early recognition and immediate treatment.
Timely identification and appropriate treatment of severe sepsis is therefore critical. Lactate levels in blood provide an indication of the level of sepsis in a critically ill patient. Antibiotics are used to lower lactate levels. 43% of the patients died if lactate clearance took more than 24 hours. Current treatment methodologies are time consuming involving the taking and analysing of blood samples. Procedure states that in those with sepsis it is recommended that blood cultures be drawn before antibiotics are given, hence delaying treatment further.
This project aims to develop a novel type of vascular catheter for the measurement of sepsis through the real time detection of lactate in blood. This on-line solution will remove the need to take blood samples, thereby improving treatment response times to potentially avoid detrimental impact on internal organs. As well as significant benefit to the patient (through fast and accurate diagnosis and treatment of sepsis potentially avoiding future significant health issues), this innovation will benefit clinicians by providing real time accurate information as to the condition of a patient and benefit hospitals by reducing treatment times and costs.
The project is highly innovative as this design of catheter, incorporating sensors, using this type of detection method for sepsis has not been undertaken previously.