T2 Biosystems announces publication of article in The Lancet

T2 Biosystems highlighted a recently published article in The Lancet, a world-leading medical journal. The article titled “Changing the Culture of Blood Culture” was authored by Sally Davies, Richard A Marfuggi, Rick A Bright, Steve Brozak, and Michael Osterholm on September 20, 2024. The authors highlighted certain weaknesses of blood culture, the ideal characteristics of culture-independent diagnostics, how to move beyond the culture of blood culture, and how to implement rapid culture-independent diagnostics: Weaknesses of blood culture: blood culture has poor sensitivity, especially with low blood volumes; it is time-consuming, typically taking 24-72 hours for initial results; it is vulnerable to contamination; it has reduced effectiveness in people who have received antibiotics; and is a labor-intensive process requiring skilled technicians. Ideal characteristics of culture-independent diagnostics: culture-independent diagnostic tests need to display proven accuracy; they need to be accurate despite previous antimicrobial therapy; they need to provide results in 3-5 hours; they need to detect a range of bacterial, fungal, and antimicrobial resistance pathogens; they need to be low-cost, easy to use, and accessible; and they should have a low cross-contamination risk and low sample volume requirements. How to move beyond the culture of blood culture: the ongoing crisis in blood-culture availability should encourage the development and implementation of more efficient and resilient diagnostic methods. Moving beyond the culture of blood culture will require changes to reimbursement codes and practices for new diagnostic technologies. Governments, health-care systems, and private-sector entities should designate funding for new diagnostic technologies. Frugal innovation will be important in these efforts, combining state-of-the-art technologies with cost-effective solutions to make advancements accessible, even in resource-limited settings. Implementation of rapid, culture-independent diagnostics: rapid, accurate diagnostics should be integrated into antimicrobial-stewardship programs to enable targeted therapy. Once implemented, global collaboration is needed to share best practices, coordinate research efforts, and ensure equitable access to new diagnostics. Culture-independent diagnostics have the potential to improve health outcomes and strengthen the global response to infectious diseases.