The creator of the technology says it would be a game changer for access to regional and remote healthcare as well as take the pressure of the laboratory workforce.
Techion chief executive Greg Mirams said it would “radically change the way we deliver healthcare”.
“For some tests, like spinal fluids, you can’t transport them so all those people have to come to the city. Well, what if we didn’t have to do that and we could do that in the regions… It’s got the potential to massively reduce the costs, improve services, but also take some of that pressure off a workforce that’s just getting smashed at the moment.
“My vision is that we can deliver this technology at a price point where regional hospitals and clinics can afford it, it can run multiple types of tests. It’s going to reduce those wait times, so you get instant turnarounds.”
The diagnostic tool works as a digital microscope which takes images of the samples being tested and sends them to the cloud, where they are diagnosed by Artificial Intelligence or a trained technician.
Mirams points out it all sounds similar to the famously failed Theranos blood testing company established by Elizabeth Holmes, but quickly assures their product is the real deal – and it has been around for decades.
The product, in its initial stage first launched in 1992 as “essentially a microscope in a box”. It was used by farmers who had been trained to count the parasite eggs in their sheep poo. The count would determine whether treatment was needed instead of assuming drenching was required for the entire flock.
It went digital 20 years later allowing for remote analysis of the samples.
The product is used to save famers money on medication, and also works to combat “drench-resistance” which starts to occur when flocks are drenched regularly as a preventative measure.
The device is now used for production animals including cattle, equine, pigs, and birds and is sold in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and throughout the world.
Awanui Labs microbiologist Professor James Ussher said there was still work to do on the tool itself before it would be ready to be used to test for human diseases but expected it would be ready next year.
“So far, it’s looking promising and I think it is a really attractive potential solution, particularly for the likes of the Southern [region] that is remote and there’s a dispersed nature of laboratory facilities because of the dispersed nature of the region, with a large number of towns a fair distance from major cities.”
A pilot in a couple of select regions would be the first stage of any rollout.
Mirams said the initial phase would likely be tests via sterile fluids, such as urine and fluid from a spinal tap or a swollen joint.
“So they could test that [joint fluid] to see if it’s got arthritis crystals in it, or if it’s got infection cells, and then they know whether to give you antibiotics or arthritis medication.”
He said the current way of testing samples was very manual and this would help streamline the sheer volume of work that was coming through as well as improve conditions for laboratory experts.
“What it’s allowed us to do is access semi-skilled labour to prepare and feed the little device here, and the expert labor, they can work from home.
“Some of the ones that were entering retirement, but might still be quite happy to do 20 hours a week, they could potentially still utilise and it works for both parties, their expertise is not lost.”
“It doesn’t in any way, replace the technicians at all, it actually just makes their life easier.”
He hoped the Government would recognise the opportunity devices like this held for greater access to healthcare and preventative diagnostics.
“What we don’t want is this sort of thing to get stuck or stopped because that’d be really tragic and sadly, I’ve seen that happen before.
“It’s a new Government, it’s a fresh look, and we could be a world leader in this area. I mean, we can make it happen within our window and we will chip away, but we can make it happen a lot faster if we get the support from those government bodies to actually ramp this up.”
