A team of Finglas doctors has developed a revolutionary medical device that can massively speed up the diagnosis of sepsis and save people from the illness that can kill in just hours.

Patients currently suspected of having sepsis have to undergo a lengthy blood analysis that can take days to complete. While they are waiting for a result, they are put on a broad-spectrum antibiotic.

But the simple SepTec screening tool can be used at the patient’s bedside to diagnose sepsis in just 15 minutes from a blood sample and lead to the use of a very specific medication for that patient’s needs.

Sepsis is a life-threatening illness caused by the body’s response to an infection. Any infection can progress to ­sepsis.

It claims more lives than heart attacks, breast cancer or lung cancer, and can kill a healthy person within 12 hours. Elderly people, pregnant women and children are particularly at risk, and diagnosis time is critical because for every hour delay in diagnosis, there is an estimated 8pc decrease in chances of survival.

Dr Elaine Spain (35) and Dr Kellie Adamson (32) are co-founders of SepTec, a research project based in the National Centre for Sensor Research on the DCU Glasnevin campus, since 2014.

“We met when we were doing our PhDs. I’m from east Finglas and Kellie is from west Finglas. My background is in electro-chemical science while Kellie focuses on biology,” Dr Spain told the Irish Independent.

“We are further developing the SepTec device and if all goes well and it goes through its clinical trials it could be out there in hospitals in three or four years,” she said.

The links between Finglas and sepsis treatment were uncanny, she said.

In January 2018, Karen and Joe Hughes lost their 15-year-old son Sean to sepsis, and have campaigned to raise awareness of the symptoms of the killer illness ever since.

“Through his own research, Joe got to hear about us developing our device and got in touch with us. We were glad to explain the SepTec device to him and then we discovered that Joe’s sister used to babysit me when I was a child,” said Dr Spain.

“Then when Karen and Joe did some fundraising they wanted to donate money to our research. It was incredible for two parents who are funding their own campaign to do that. It showed the faith they have in us. Tears were shed when they gave us a cheque for €16,500 in September.”

Dr Spain also has an extra drive to bring the SepTec device to fruition and see it in clinics and hospitals helping save lives. “My own grandmother died of sepsis. I never got to say goodbye to her.

The device is now in the late-developmental stage and undergoing rigorous testing and validation before it can be used widely. The SepTec team is now seeking up to €6m seed funding to take the device to clinical trial, full manufacturing, regulatory approval and then market launch.

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