Diagnostic Evaluation Study of the BactInsight Blood Culture System in West-Africa

Summary

Diagnosis of bloodstream infections (BSI) is done by sampling blood in blood culture bottles that are checked for growth in the microbiology laboratory. In LRS, microbiology laboratories are however scarce, and BSI cannot be diagnosed, resulting in overuse of antibiotics which fuels AMR. For diagnosis of BSI, so-called manual blood culture (equipment-free) systems are used in LRS, with daily visual inspection for growth. Compared to automates, manual systems are less sensitive, and growth is slower; in addition, training and experience are needed before laboratory staff is competent to detect growth when inspecting the blood culture bottles.

A simplified blood culture system could enable expanded use of blood cultures in LRS and would thus improve BSI treatment. Ongoing research at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, in collaboration with Ghent University has resulted in a novel, simple, cheap, open-access and robust blood culture system, the Bactinsight blood culture system. This system consists of two modules. Firstly, a portable, battery-operated measurement device (turbidimeter), which monitors and detects bacterial growth in blood culture bottles based on the turbidity of the culture medium caused by bacterial growth. Secondly, optimized blood culture bottles have been developed. A second step in blood cultures is the identification of the causing organism. Researchers at LETI (Grenoble, France) have developed a lensfree microscope, which simplifies and expedites identification of the causative organisms, improving patient's diagnosis and more directed antibiotic treatment. The lensfree microscope is an additional module for the Bactinsight blood culture system.

In SIMBLE, the Bactinsight blood culture system will be evaluated against reference systems in two phases. During the optimization phase in Belgium, the performance of Bactinsight turbidimeter + lensfree microscope will be tested in a reference hospital laboratory. In parallel, an in vitro laboratory evaluation of the Bactinsight blood culture system (turbidimeter + blood culture bottles + lensfree microscope) will be done using spiked blood cultures. In the field-testing phase, the ease-of-use, acceptability, adoptability and performance of Bactinsight blood culture system will be evaluated in three hospitals in Benin and Burkina Faso. The blood culture bottles used for this study will be manufactured in a production facility in Benin, that will be installed at the start of the project.

Conditions

• Bacterial Infections

Interventions

DIAGNOSTIC_TEST

BactInsight blood culture system

A battery-operated measurement device (turbidimeter), which monitors and detects bacterial growth in blood culture bottles based on the turbidity of the culture medium caused by bacterial growth, in combination with optimized blood culture bottles.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Reactivos para Diagnóstico, S.L.

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• University Ghent

  collaborator OTHER

• Université Libre de Bruxelles

  collaborator OTHER

• Commissariat A L'energie Atomique

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Yalgado Ouédraogo

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Centre National Hospitalier et Universitaire de Pneumo-Phtisiologie de Cotonou

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP)

  collaborator OTHER_GOV

• Institute of Tropical Medicine, Belgium

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Barbara Barbé · Instituut voor Tropische Geneeskunde

Eligibility

Min Age

15 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-06-08

Primary Completion

2025-05-08

Completion

2025-09-01

Countries

• Benin

Study Locations