Improving the diagnosis of infective endocarditis: The development of, and safety testing for, a novel blood culture device

Rapid identification and treatment of the causative organism is key in the successful treatment of bacterial infection. This can be difficult in conditions such as infective endocarditis when the organisms are circulating in low concentrations. In such conditions a delay in identifying the organism and initiating appropriate antimicrobial treatment is associated with a worse outcome. Blood culture yields may be improved by the development of a blood culture device (BCD) specifically for this purpose. This study aimed to develop a BCD and test it in vivo on a sheep model for function and safety. A blood culture device (BCD) was designed to allow an increased volume of blood (100mL) to circulate under turbulent conditions over a large surface area to optimize bacterial exposure. To prevent clotting during sampling the BCD was preloaded with heparin saline. The efficacy and safety of the developed BCD was tested on an animal model of five sheep. All five developed BCDs functioned well when tested on the sheep model. A volume of 100mL of blood was circulated through each device without clotting. The sheep did not display any clinical or biochemical evidence of bleeding or bleeding risk during or after sampling. This study confirms that a BCD can be developed through which an increased volume of blood can be circulated under turbulent conditions over a large surface area without clotting during sampling and without exposing the subject to a hemorrhagic risk.