Siemens Healthineers contracts with US NIH to aid rapid pathogen detection and guide antibiotic treatment for sepsis
Siemens Healthineers has contracted with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to improve antibiotic treatment for sepsis patients.
Sepsis is a life-threatening blood infection and the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals. Collaborating with Janus-I Science and Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), the team aspires to develop a new diagnostic tool using next-generation sequencing that within six hours of blood draw would rapidly detect and identify a range of bacteria and fungi, and provide information about their likely resistance to certain antibiotics. Successful completion of the three-year, $5.5 million contract would create a prototype that would support a critical clinical need: timely and targeted antibiotic treatment for patients potentially facing death from sepsis.
