Next‑generation UTI diagnostics: delivering results in just 35 minutes
Description
Urinary Tract infections, or UTIs, affect millions worldwide, driving sepsis, antibiotic overuse, and microbial resistance. Current diagnostics rely on either slow lab cultures or unreliable dipsticks, and often lead to delayed or unnecessary treatment. Llusern’s Lodestar DX changes that: a point-of-care test that detects 96% of key UTI pathogens in just 35 minutes, no lab required.
In this episode I’m joined by Emma Hayhurst who shares her journey into diagnostics, Llusern’s mission, and the emergence of Wales as a biotech hub with a growing life sciences sector fueling local innovation. We discuss UTI prevalence, diagnostic gaps, and how rapid, accurate testing can transform patient care and antimicrobial stewardship.
02:14 Meet Emma Hayhurst
04:37 Introducing Llusern Scientific
07:21 Collaboration between Llusern and the academy
08:50 The life science ecosystem in Wales
12:10 Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
15:45 UTI patient demographics
16:54 Health impacts of UTIs: sepsis, antibiotic resistance, and more
19:01 Existing UTI diagnostic options and their shortcomings
24:41 Llusern’s Lodestar DX
29:03 A point-of-care test, not a lab test
31:44 Applications beyond UTIs
36:03 Looking forward at Llusern
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