“The Longitude prize was established in 2014 to incentivise a ‘cost-effective, accurate, rapid, and easy-to-use test for bacterial infections that will allow health professionals worldwide to administer the right antibiotics at the right time.’

The winning Sysmex Astrego’s PA-100 AST system is based on technology from Uppsala University in Sweden. A 400-microlitre sample of urine is placed on a phone-sized cartridge and then into a shoebox-sized analyser unit. It can spot bacterial infection within 15 minutes, and identify the antibiotic to treat it within 45 minutes.

Previously, doctors would send a sample to a laboratory for tests with results in 24 hours, giving a turnaround time of two or three days.”

From The Guardian.