Hundreds of millions of samples are tested each year to detect harmful bacteria in drinking and environmental water, food and beverages. Pathogens such as Legionella, Pseudomonas, Giardia/Cryptosporidium, Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli, cause diseases and lead to enormous economic damage. Food recalls can cause damage sometimes exceeding USD 100 million for the affected companies. To prevent this, billions of microbiological tests are carried out each year to assure the safety of products, environment and infrastructure. For example, Legionnaires disease – a severe pneumonia with a significant mortality rate caused by the Legionella pathogen which isfound in freshwater environments worldwide and tend to contaminate man-made water systems – was reported to affect 5,500-6,500 people annually in the EU/EEA countries between 2005 and 2010. Common testing methods in microbiology need up to 14 days to give semi-quantitative data. Operations may need to be halted until the source of contamination can be located. The waiting period for these test methods are costly as they leave inventory in quarantine and do not prevent regular recalls.
rqmicro has developed the CellCount solution for microbiological testing composed of the rqmicro’s proprietary device and disposable testing kits (consumables) for pathogens in food and water. CellCount reduces the time significantly by providing unequivocal, quantitative results allowing users to act immediately. With it's single cell-counting capability, users have peace of mind that the rapid results are also reliable. It involves an automated one-step operation that does not require qualified personnel and eliminates operator bias thereby improving workflows for customers.
The overall objectives of the project are to complete product development (instrument and kit optimisation), test it with accredited laboratories and demonstrate the completed platform technology with potential customers.
