New COVID-19 test speeds access to emergency medical care

The first analysis of SARS-CoV-2’s new point-of-care “nucleic acid test” in UK hospitals dramatically reduced the time these machines spend in the COVID-19 “ward” ward and It shows that it allows for treatment or discharge, which is much faster than the current lab test setup.

The rapid diagnostic capabilities of the SAMBA II device-an average of 2.6 hours compared to an average of 26.4 hours for standard lab testing-provides increased availability of the “isolation room” needed for infected patients and reduced hospital bay closures. It was.

The University of Cambridge researchers behind the new study are now preprinted and awaiting peer review, but the time and hospital capacity saved by these devices “will become important as we move toward autumn and winter.” “.

The SAMBA II machine was developed by a university spin-out company, Diagnostics in the Real World, and has been deployed for testing at Aden Brooks Hospital, part of the Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (CUH).

The daily routine and screening backlog as a result of the pandemic is a major issue that needs to be resolved before the winter when the NHS faces more pressure from other infectious diseases such as norovirus and influenza. “

Ravi Gupta, Research Lead Author, Professor, University of Cambridge

“Rapidly testing hospital admissions for SARS-CoV-2 in hospitals is essential to reduce COVID-19 infections in hospitals, speed access to emergency medical care, and enable safe discharges. Makes all the difference in a few months.”Time.”

“Using the point-of-care test speeds up patient identification in the COVID-19 clinical trial, and receiving treatment one day earlier can make a clinical difference.”

“Not only hospitals throughout the UK, but also nursing homes and prisons can benefit from the SAMBA II device,” said Gupta of the Institute of Therapeutic Immunology and Infectious Diseases (CITIID) at the Cambridge Institute. “Given the UK’s technical capital, don’t fall too far to a quick point-of-care test.”

Standard tests are submitted for analysis in the central lab, with a backlog of more than 2 days delay. SAMBA machines can generate diagnostics in just 90 minutes.

Dr Helen Lee, CEO of Diagnostics in the Real World, developed the SAMBA II technology while in the hematology department in Cambridge. The chemicals behind the machine are used for HIV diagnosis on-site throughout Africa.

These devices search for very slight traces of the viral genetic code and are very sensitive in detecting active infections. Once the nose and throat swabs are loaded into the SAMBA machine, the process is fully automated and easy to use.

In the first “COVIDx” clinical trial led by Gupta of Addenbrooks with 149 participants, the sensitivity of SAMBA II was 96.9% (correct identification of positive cases) and 99.1% compared to standard laboratory tests. Specificity (correct identification of negative cases). It’s also about 24 hours faster.

With the success of the COVIDx study, the hospital switched almost all SARS-CoV-2 tests from the standard lab “RT-PCR” test to the May SAMBA II use. Opportunities for “real” comparisons and impact on hospital functioning.

Gupta and colleagues compared data from electronic patient records for all patients who underwent in-hospital testing 10 days before and after switching CUH to a SAMBA device.

Researchers have reduced the average length of time patients have to spend in a “waiting” ward for COVID 019 before they are discharged or treated from 58.5 hours to just 30 hours.

They also reduced the use of single-person “isolated” rooms where COVID-19 patients are ideally treated-as symptomatic patients have been shown to be COVID-19 negative After the introduction, from 30.8% to 21.2%.

In fact, the researchers say that the test equipment prevented 11 ward closures 10 days after implementation. “Leaving the operating room open will reduce the number of canceled surgeries and provide faster access to life-saving clinical interventions,” Gupta said.

The majority of patients tested with SAMBA II during the first 10 days of hospital-wide use were admitted to the emergency department (ED). The rest included preoperative screening (11%) and discharge to nursing homes (10%).

Approximately 96% of SAMBA tests in preoperative patients accelerated the rate of “surgical interventions” including kidney and liver transplants.

The test also allowed early discharge to nursing homes or supported lives in 79% of those cases, the rest being delayed by “systematic problems” rather than the test itself.

Dr. Dami Collier, who tuned and analyzed COVIDx, said: “Our research shows that the SAMBA II machine’s point-of-care test is not only reliable, accurate, and much faster, but diagnostic speed is patient care and safety.”

Dr. Ashley Shaw, CUH Medical Director, said:

This work was supported by Welcome, the Addenbrook Charitable Trust, and the National Institutes of Health (NIHR) Cambridge Biomedical Research Center.