Bacterial infections affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide and frequently necessitate an antibiotic prescription

As it stands, antibiotic prescribers administer a first-line of antibiotic treatment, which is often altered when reliable diagnosis (Dx) and Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing (AST) results become available. Current AST methods require at least a 2-day turnaround time to deliver these results.

This discrepancy between first- and second-line treatment compromises patient outcomes; often times resulting in infection complications, patient re-visits, hospitalizations, and prolonged hospitals stays. Furthermore, when the initial antibiotic treatment provided is erroneous – or else entirely unnecessary – such methods contribute to the global public health issue of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).