Zenosense, Inc. (ZENO) Technology to Help Curb Billions in H Zenosense, Inc. (ZENO) Technology to Help Curb Billions in Healthcare Provider Costs
According to an Issue Brief from the Pew Charitable Trust, annual treatment costs for hospitalized MRSA patients can run between $3.2 billion and $4.2 billion in the United States. It is estimated that patients with MRSA are twice as likely to die as patients with a staph infection that can be addressed with methicillin. The brief also reports that MRSA accounts for 11,000 deaths and 80,000 invasive infections annually in just the United States.
At a time when MRSA-infected patients are likely to have a hospital stay that is 300 percent longer and 300 percent more expensive than uninfected patients, the need for efficient and cost-effective MRSA detection measures runs deep. One highly-used detection method includes lab testing from cultured samples. However, it requires incubation times of 24 hours or more, and it often includes a 2-3 day turnaround. There are tests available with faster turnaround times, but because of the increased efficiency, they are more expensive. In turn, it adds more to healthcare providers’ cost burdens and, by extension, patients’ own expenses. Also, sensory devices for identifying MRSA exist, but they are bulky, take up room, and costly for large-scale applications. And all of this is without factoring in the substantial hygienic, cleansing, and existing MRSA detection-related expenses that healthcare providers already incur, as well.
Enter Zenosense, an emerging healthcare technology company that is helping pioneer an MRSA detection device with groundbreaking medical potential. With its development partner Sgenia Group, the company is engineering a device that will incorporate an advanced electronic nose technology to detect MRSA. Using powerful sensory capabilities, this device will “smell” and pick up on Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) signatures given off by MRSA-infected patients. It will make use of a powerful, single standard sensor and standard components so that it stays low-cost.
At present, there is no cost-effective system that “smells” MRSA VOC signatures and is easily deployable to healthcare facilities. The device’s single sensor unit is slated to have the technological potency of tens of thousands of sensors. Zenosense estimates it would take up to 8-32 competing sensors with supporting hardware to perform at the same level. With this powerful sensory capability, the device will consist of a wearable unit which patients and healthcare staff wear in hospital settings. Zenosense has plans for a fixed, network-monitored detection device, as well.
This device will enable healthcare providers to detect MRSA at earlier stages. As a result, it would have a tremendous impact on their treatment costs. There is some literature which confirms this possibility. In fact, recent studies on healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), of which MRSA is a part, suggest that prevention practices could reduce certain HAIs by 70 percent.
In the midst of the development efforts, Zenosense has been forging strategic relationships with key parties that will help bring further progress. These include hospitals, universities, and players in the private sector who will be valuable partners in research efforts for the device and eventually bringing the device to market.
For more information, visit: www.zenosense.net
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