Meeting the unmet Making urine sample collection easier, cleaner and more reliable Around 65 million urine specimens are collected by the NHS annually, but between 0.38 percent and 70.38 percent can prove unreliable. This points to hit-and-miss treatment across a very common diagnostic process and means that up to two-thirds of patients expecting to be diagnosed from their urine specimen will not be. Like blood, urine is used for diagnosis and treatment that saves lives; it is one of the most common and influential bodily fluids used to diagnose myriad conditions, infections and diseases. Its use is non-invasive and low-cost. However, many urine samples produce unreliable results and need to be retested. The traditional method of producing a urine sample can also be messy, causing patients to feel uncomfortable and clinical areas to become contaminated. Many NHS Trusts now sub-contract microbiology to private groups and try to ensure that no mixed growth samples go to these groups, otherwise they will have to pay for a ‘pointless’ sample. Consequently, trusts are developing specimen pathways to screen out samples where mixed growths are likely to be high but not a real concern because the issue is often dehydration – for example, in the case of older people in care homes. Peezy Midstream can reduce mixed growth to as little as 1.5 percent, making the specimen it collects 98.5 percent accurate. It can therefore save on the implementation of the costly additional pathways mentioned previously. It can also ensure that specimens will not be discarded as ‘pointless’ when they have been requested for a valid reason.
The device was conceived by NHS GP Dr Vincent Forte, when he noticed that a high number of his female patients were making repeat appointments for urinary tract infections which he believed he had already treated. This was because urine specimens had failed to provide accurate results, so he had been unable to make the right diagnoses. Further research proved that this was a problem on a national scale. A prime contaminator of urine specimens is ‘first-flush’ urine, which can carry debris and bacteria from the skin into a sample, ultimately causing false results. The midstream urine, which comes after the first-flush, gives clinicians a much clearer picture of the patient’s health. With Peezy Midstream, first-flush and midstream urine are separated, as the first-flush gets discarded into the toilet, while the valuable midstream is isolated into a collection tube. Any overflow is also directed straight into the toilet. This delivers a significantly purer sample than traditional methods can, untainted
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UK Lifescience Industry Magazine
by first-flush urine, while reducing the patient’s chances of soiling their hands and other areas.
For prompt diagnosis and treatment, right first-time analysis is vital. Peezy Midstream enables clinicians to more quickly identify problems and begin dealing with them. As a result of this improved efficiency, there is less need for repeat appointments and retests, so savings can be made on costs and resources.
Traditional urine collection methods often involve spillage and decanting. Urine spread onto bottles, hands and toilet environments can pose an infection control risk as urine can carry infections
such as Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, HIV and MRSA. While the NHS urges us all to wash our hands, it is counter-intuitive to allow urine to be collected in ways that can soil and infect them. Peezy Midstream is currently the only urine collection method that allows the collection of urine to meet Public Health England UK Standards for Microbiology Collection of Urine and other national guidelines. It is available in the UK on the NHS Supply Chain, through Bunzl and other leading distributors. Forte Medical, the company behind Peezy Midstream, is now exporting it to the USA. The company is also working with leading NHS and other academic health institutes to bring Peezy First Stream and Peezy Stool systems to the market in 2017. These devices will be designed to improve detection of prostate, bladder, cervical, colon and bowel cancer.
www.forte-medical.co.uk