Infection poses one of the most serious risks to patients getting a hip or knee replaced, and a major US drugmaker is developing a test to quickly identify the pathogens responsible so doctors can treat problems sooner.
Abbott Diagnostics Group, a unit of Abbott Laboratories , is working with privately held Genetics Laboratory Inc, whose expertise is in orthopedics, to develop the test.
It will be based on Abbott's PLEX-ID system for identifying microbes, and is expected to help doctors detect infections that become rooted in the body's joints long before they become apparent through physical symptoms. "This is a completely new way of diagnosing infectious disease," Dave Ecker, divisional vice president at Abbott Molecular, said in an interview. "It is currently dominated by technology using cultures, which is a 150-year-old technology. We are long overdue for an advance."
Once Abbott and Genetics Laboratory build the test, an application specific to identifying orthopedic infection would require approval from the US Food and Drug Administration, which could take 5 years, Ecker said.