Our Technology
NanoLogix technology provides live-cell rapid detection and identification dramatically faster than Flow Cytometry and traditional Petri culture methods. Additionally, in contrast to other fast methods such as Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), our technology does not require large investments in equipment or personnel training.
Our N-Assay and new Rapid Virus Assay technologies are simple, easy to use and portable. They provide a more accurate, cost-effective alternative to PCR and Flow Cytometry.
Quantitative, Live-Cell and Rapid Virus Results
In the past decades, DNA analysis has emerged as a popular, yet expensive, trend to speed up microorganism diagnostics. Other disadvantages of this type of analysis (also known as PCR) include a failure of the technology to return live-cell results. Instead, these tests are only able to detect for the presence of the organism in a sample. Technicians using PCR are unable to determine the viability of the microorganisms from these results.
Results using NanoLogix technology, by contrast, are fast and can detect whether or not a microorganism found in the sample is alive, and therefore a viable health threat. This distinction between live and dead cells is a crucial requirement in the identification of pathogenic microorganisms. It is the reason many laboratories continue to insist on live-cell results, despite the longer wait for results.
Benefits to Rapid, Live-Cell Microorganism Detection
IN THE CLINIC:
Antibiotic treatment is more effective when an infectious disease is identified at an early stage. The spread of infectious disease as well as growth of antibiotic resistance can be reduced by earlier intervention.
IN RAPID VIRUS DETECTION
Our new Rapid Virus Assay provides the ability to detect essentially any virus in approximately 1 hour or less. This was developed based up the need for rapid detection of COVID 19 and is in patent-pending status.
IN PHARMACEUTICAL R&D
Rapid detection of live-cell microorganisms increases the speed of pharmaceutical R&D, including faster product development and more effective countermeasures for pathogenic bacteria when they are detected.
IN BIODEFENSE
Our rapid tests give combat theaters and homeland security operations the ability to detect the presence of specific pathogenic bacteria closer to the epicenter of release. Site decontamination teams can identify surface samples faster, potentially aiding the field process.
IN FOOD, BEVERAGE AND COSMETIC MANUFACTURING
Rapid detection of live-cell microbial contamination minimizes the impact of contaminated products. Our rapid tests pre-empt expensive recalls and protect corporate reputations. Potential government-mandated “microbiology holds,” which cause delays in product shipment, can be averted and the speed of new product development can be increased.
Slowing Antibiotic Resistance
Economically speaking, antibiotic resistant bacteria are expensive. For example, treating a patient with tuberculosis may cost up to $12,000, but for a multi-drug resistant strain, the cost increases to $180,000. In fact, the Center for Science in the Public Interest estimates the annual cost of treating antibiotic resistance may be as high as $30 billion.
In addition to the rising costs, drug-resistant strains of bacteria also pose serious threats to the effective treatment of dangerous pathogens like MRSA, Staph, E. coli, Group B Strep and many others. From the hospital to the animal feed lot, the high general and untargeted use of antibiotics is leading to stronger, more pervasive strains of bacteria resistant to antibiotics and increasing demands for faster, less expensive technology for testing.
In many cases, the use of antibiotics has become a necessity. Because conventional testing methods such as Petri cultures often delay definitive diagnosis for several days, many physicians are forced to treat empirically with broad-spectrum antibiotics until test results can advise a more targeted protocol. For livestock operations, long wait-times for test results prompt producers to add antibiotics to animal feed, ensuring the yet-to-be-detected pathogen does not transfer to other animals at the facility. These and other preemptive treatments do assist in the protection against bacterial pathogens, however they also embolden strains of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, making them even more difficult to eradicate.
Experts say that to slow antibiotic resistance, clinical and veterinary medicine, as well as agriculture operations need to embrace changes to the current status quo. A step in the right direction is utilizing technology that offers significantly faster live-cell results. Such technology, like the advances made by NanoLogix, allows physicians and livestock producers the flexibility to administer broad-spectrum antibiotics immediately and the choice to wait a few short hours for test results to suggest a more targeted protocol. By providing this option, NanoLogix supports the ability to preserve the effectiveness of current antibiotics and other antimicrobials and ultimately, to slow trends in antibiotic resistance.