Commission Vice-President for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes said: "Every summer we see images of people with terrible injuries caused in the home or by forest fires. Thanks to EU funding, the technology developed by WOUNDMONITOR will speed up diagnosis time and help doctors to prescribe the appropriate treatment much faster."
Most of the burns in the EU occur at home or at work and are more predominant among vulnerable groups like the elderly or young children. Early diagnosis and treatment of infection in burn patients is critical. However, despite advances in modern medicine, it can take up to three days for microbiological tests to identify the bacteria present in the wound. Only after this identification can doctors select the appropriate treatment.
Traditionally, medical students were taught to recognise bacterial infections by their characteristic odour. Clinicians and researchers from Germany, Italy, Lithuania and the UK in the WOUNDMONITOR project used the same approach, but were helped by the latest information and communication technologies (ICTs).
The researchers developed an instrument that can identify types of bacteria from the small amount of volatile gases, recognisable by smell, that they emit. The experts first identified the three major types of bacteria: staphylococcus, streptococcus and pseudomonas, which account for about 80 percent of the bacterial infections found in burns. They then identified the volatile chemicals spread by the bacteria when they multiply. With this information, the team designed an instrument - about the size of an A4 file - containing eight gas sensors. The pattern of the responses from the sensors represents the characteristics of the chemicals present, by which the bacteria are identified.
This complex but very compact instrument has been tested in a hospital in Manchester (UK) and at a Kaunas regional hospital (Lithuania). Results have been very satisfactory and the researchers have positively assessed the instrument's risk level. Several commercial companies have shown interest in the WOUNDMONITOR instrument and negotiations are underway to qualify the instrument for commercial use.
The EU funded the project with €1.67 million from its Sixth Framework Programme (6th FWP) for research.
For further information, please visit:
http://www.woundmonitor.manchester.ac.uk
Related article:
- FP6 Projects: WOUNDMONITOR