Hacking Bacteria: Preventing and controlling Hospital Acquired Infection
BIREN SHAH
PHOTONIC SENSING SOLUTIONS FOR MONITORING: ENVIRONMENT, CONDITION & VIBRATION, SECURITY & SURVEILLANCE AND HUMAN HEALTH
Airborne Hospital Acquired Infection?
Patients visit hospitals to receive care for their conditions and illnesses. Hospitals and healthcare settings are inherently conducive to the spread of disease-causing microorganisms. Infections can spread through the air and touch. Healthy people can defend themselves from mild illness, but someone with a compromised immune system or an open wound would have a higher risk of prolonged disease or even death. Large numbers of people, many with suppressed immune systems or community-acquired infections, are placed together in close quarters, creating an environment that may leave patients, visitors, and employees vulnerable.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed many challenges and gaps in infection. The lessons have been alarming, and health systems must continue doing everything they can to guard against infectious diseases spread within their built environments. Hospital Acquired infection persists as a significant global public health challenge.
Leading public health organizations, including the World Health Organization, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), uniformly stress the critical importance of adherence to infection control best practices by healthcare workers as the most effective weapon against infectious disease spread in healthcare settings. But the weapon can only be loaded if the culprit is correctly identified at the right time. Once identified, the right measure can be immediately implemented.??
Major Break-through in Microbial Identification by AUM Bio Surveillance?
While the hospitals and health systems will be grappling with growing challenges around the emerging increasing rate of infectious disease for the unforeseeable future, AUM Bio surveillance will act as a critical radar in monitoring and controlling the spread of contagious bacteria.?
Working Principle
The novelty of AUM Bio Surveillance lies in an innovative application of the principles of laser backscattering, statistical mechanics, optoelectronics, artificial intelligence, machine/deep learning, and Big Data Analytics resulting in a unique system capable of identification, classification, and quantification of various bacteria and viruses simultaneously in real-time.?
AUM Bio Surveillance currently detects the following bacteria that generally lead to 80% of Hospital Acquired Infection:
1. Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923
2. Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 29213
3. Escherichia coli ATCC 25922
4. Escherichia coli ATCC 35218
5. Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC 700603
6. Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853
7. Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212
8. Stenotrophomonas maltophilia ATCC 17666
9. Staphylococcus saprophyticus ATCC BAA-750
?AUM IAQ patented photonics technologies identify Microbial that provide:
???????Detection, Discrimination, and Quantification of microbes in the air (Bacteria / Virus)
???????Real-time / in situ identification with higher accuracy.
???????Validated Bacterial and Fungi library.
???????No Retesting is required & hence saving time.
???????High Sensitivity and Resolution in Detection / Discrimination (101-109 CFU, Φ = 0.25μm–2mm)
???????No Sampling Constraints, High Sampling Frequency (1kHz)
???????Repeatable, Robust, Remote, and Real-Time Detection / Discrimination Technology
???????Portable, Low Power, Remote Detection System
???????Multifarious Applications include monitoring ducts and indoor air quality.
领英推荐
The technology can thereby prevent Hospital acquired infection amongst the patients in ICU, Operation theaters, private rooms connected to centralized air conditioning systems etc. As AUM BioSurveillance is portable, the equipment can be relocated from one zone to another based on standard operating procedures.??
Unique Features
Effortlessly measures different classes of Air Quality:
§?Surveillance of Virus and Bacteria – Detecting, Qualifying, and Quantifying Bacteria in space. Almost all the evidence of health effects is based on these measurements.
§?Ambient Air Quality - Measures the quality of major indoor pollutants in a particular place.
§?Meteorological Measurement measures air flow and humidity that shows how the microbial are transferred from source to recipient.
§?Area of Coverage: One Aum Bio Surveillance system can cover 5sq.mt. of space. The system can be customized upto 500 sq.mt.
§?Portable: AUM Bio Surveillance system is robust, lite weight hence portable. The system can be mobilized on a track or robot.
§?Command and Control: AUM BIO Surveillance is connected to CATSMART Command and Control that alerts and alarms
§??IOT Connectivity: AUM BIO Surveillance can be connected to online fumigation, Air conditioning, and other machines that can sterilize the place.
?CATS PHOTONIC systems and solutions provide reliable and robust monitoring solution that detects, classifies, and locates multiple threats in real-time.
Next Steps: The role of Big Data & AI.
To moderate airborne nosocomial infection, Community-acquired infection, and Hospital-acquired infection, a long-term plan needs to be undertaken at the national level. ?A well-planned surveillance system to monitor airborne infections requires standardization, targeted monitoring, risk adjustment, trained professionals, and a link between the disseminated data and prevention efforts. AUM Bio surveillance system integrated with CATSmart big data analytical platform will assist in building national data to prevent and control infection. Following different infection threat variants are required to be confronted as per the Infectious Diseases Society of America:
4. Re-focused attention on eradicated or rare infectious diseases such as small-pox and anthrax stemming from bioterrorism threats: AUM Bio Surveillance can detect Bioterrorism threats rapidly. In collaboration with the national security agency, such threats can be defused.
The collected data will be categorized as above will assist in planning better controlling methods.
·????????The most problematic infection type
·????????New and recurring infection types. Periodicity of their occurrence.?
·????????Inspecting the adverse effect that is specific to a given geographical region or specific to a facility.
·????????Substantiating whether the intervention/prevention efforts are effective.
·????????The population that is disproportionately affected and most at risk of infection.
The above data mining will be helpful in assisting in:
·????????Disease Surveillance and Control,
·????????Identifying problem areas and quality improvement
·????????Public reporting and Long term care facilities.
·????????Measure progress of prevention efforts
Conclusion
AUM Bio surveillance prevents the spread of infectious diseases. It protects patients and healthcare workers from hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), especially airborne infections, which have always been an essential priority for health systems worldwide. Such firewall methods will prepare citizens for biological threats by counteracting microbial challenges and improving healthcare quality. These will reduce morbidity and mortality. Let’s make a difference for a healthier future now.