NEWS
Diagnosing microbial infections in 20 minutes
A new technique which slashes the time taken to diagnose microbial infections from days to minutes could help save lives and open up a new front in the batle against antibiotic resistance, researchers say. Engineers and clinicians from the UK and
China based at the University of Glasgow are behind the breakthrough system, called AutoEnricher. It combines microfluidic technology with sophisticated analysis and machine learning to enable the diagnosis of pathogens in just 20 minutes. In a paper published in the journal
Nature Communications, the researchers show how they validated the effectiveness of their system on hundreds of real patient samples, delivering diagnoses with 95% accuracy even in samples with very low concentrations of pathogens. They also demonstrate how AutoEnricher can diagnose multiple simultaneous infections. In the future, the system could be a valuable tool to tackle antimicrobial resistance. The team’s system combines innovative
hardware and software to enable a rapid two-stage diagnosis. In the first stage, the system uses a microfluidic device developed by the team to scrub human cells from
samples of patients’ blood, urine or spinal fluid, leaving behind only pathogen cells. In the second stage, the unique
chemical fingerprint of the pathogen cells is identified using a technique called Raman spectroscopy. The fingerprint is then analysed by a machine learning tool developed by the team. The tool, which was trained on a database of 342 clinical isolates from 36 species of bacteria and fungi, can provide a diagnosis by analysing as few as 10 pathogen cells in less than 20 minutes. The team validated AutoEnricher’s
performance with the help of three hospitals in China, who provided samples from a total of 305 patients. The samples were also tested using conventional laboratory methods to culture the bacteria to enable diagnosis. AutoEnricher’s diagnosis matched the conventional laboratory method’s outcomes 95% of the time, and also managed to pick out mixed infections which were missed by the culture tests. Li Y, Xu J, Yi X, et al. Rapid culture-free diagnosis of clinical pathogens via integrated microfluidic-Raman micro- spectroscopy. Nat Commun. 2025;17(1):283. doi:10.1038/s41467-025-66996-y.
FUJIFILM and Llusern Scientific announce POCT collaboration
FUJIFILM Healthcare UK has announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Llusern Scientific, a Cardiff-based specialist in rapid point-of-care molecular diagnostics designed specifically to detect bacterial and viral infections. FUJIFILM and Llusern’s first collaboration
will see Llusern’s Lodestar DX UTI system included in the FUJIFILM Community Diagnostic Vehicle, with the first of these vehicles planned to go into service in early 2026. The partnership was made possible through the valued support of FUJIFILM’s trusted partner, MediWales, which played an instrumental role in bringing the two organisations together. Pictured are Dr Emma Hayhurst, Llusern Scientific CEO, and Allan Elborn, Managing Director of FUJIFILM Healthcare UK. Founded as a spin-out from the
University of South Wales in 2020, Llusern’s expert team has developed a cuting- edge molecular diagnostic solution called
Lodestar DX, that is designed to provide healthcare professionals with timely, actionable insights into the bacteria that cause urinary tract infections (UTIs). Lodestar DX is a revolutionary testing
system that delivers rapid and precise molecular diagnostic testing, enabling healthcare providers to swiftly start targeted treatment for UTIs and improving antibiotic stewardship. Lodestar DX provides a rule in/rule-out result in just 35 minutes, with up to 97% accuracy in detecting the ‘big six’ pathogens responsible for UTIs.
February 2026
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