Impedance-based Fast Antimicrobial Susceptibility Tests (iFAST)

Description of impact

Antibiotic resistance is a rising worldwide health threat. To curb this trend, it is vital to
only prescribe antibiotics when these are required and when the bacteria causing the
specific infection is susceptible to the prescribed antibiotic. The National Action Plan
for AMR is pushing for a move towards evidence-based prescribing. Most antibiotics
are currently prescribed without evidence that they will be effective for the specific
infection. This means that an ineffective antibiotic may be prescribed, leading to poor
treatment outcomes and increased risk of antibiotic resistance developing. One of
the reasons for prescribing without evidence is that current antibiotic susceptibility
tests (ASTs) take at least 2-3 days, which is too long to wait for treatment initiation.
In this project, supported by an Invention for Innovation (i4i) award from the National
Institute for Health and Care Research , we developed a new technology, which can
measure antibiotic susceptibility in around four hours. We worked with engineers
from the University of Southampton to measure small electrical changes to individual
bacterial cells that are affected after two hours of antibiotic exposure.

Category of impact	Health impacts