A new device for the prompt diagnosis of urinary tract infections.

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common infectious diseases. Results obtained from conventional microbiological analysis of urine and anti-biotic susceptibility testing are available only after a few days, delaying precise diagnosis and appropriate therapy. Micro Biological Survey (MBS) srl (a spin-off of Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy) has developed and patented an automated colorimetric test for rapid bacterial counting. In a preliminary validation study it was demonstrated that the results obtained with the MBS method are equivalent to the results obtained with conventional culture-based microbiological analysis. Methods: In this study, sterile urine samples were artifi-cially contaminated with bacterial species that are most frequently responsible for UTIs. The MBS method was used to evaluate the presence of bacteria and their sen-sitivity to some of the most commonly used antibiotics in UTIs. Results: The MBS method was able to detect in a few hours the presence or absence of bacteria at clinically significant concentrations ( >  105 CFU/mL), and to provide their sus-ceptibility pattern to a limited panel of antibiotics. Discussion: The results obtained demonstrate that the MBS point-of-care testing (POCT) device could be devel-oped into a valuable aid for the management of UTIs, pos-sibly addressing more precise diagnosis and appropriate therapy.