Melbourne researchers hope c-FIND project will be able to diagnose killer diseases in minutes

A new test being developed by the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne could pave the way for immediate treatment of infectious diseases for high-risk patients.

Professor Mark Pellegrini with the C-Find machine. Picture: Tony Gough

A new test to diagnose hundreds of killer diseases in a few minutes is being developed by Melbourne researchers hoping to transform the face of medical care.

Able to accurately detect virtually any infection or infectious disease it is programmed for - including COVID-19 - the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s c-FIND project is intended to be rolled out across GP clinics or even placed at nursing homes, schools, or at border controls.

Under a planned $100 million research program WEHI hopes to fast track development to diagnose conditions ranging from coronavirus strains to infections in high-risk cancer patients, infants and children, and global killers such as tuberculosis.

Lead researcher Professor Marc Pellegrini believes it will pave the way for immediate treatment for high-risk patients such as those with cancer, if the next stage of research is backed.

“The whole theory was can we get a test result within several minutes,” Prof Pellegrini said.

“Now we have a test that can detect tiny, tiny bit of virus or bacteria in bio specimens that don’t have to be processed at all.

“Whatever the infection is we can detect it primarily because what we are looking for is the genetic make up or the genetic signature of these bugs.

Up to 70 per cent of medical care decisions are based on current tests, which require highly-trained staff and a centralised laboratory to undertake over days.

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute scientists are developing a new testing machine that may soon be able to diagnose infectious diseases within a few minutes. Picture: Tony Gough

The resulting c-FIND process sees a small sample of blood, saliva or urine placed into a cartride that is then inserted into a portable machine and scanned to see if it has an exact match for known diseases.

For people such as Paul Omond the benefits may be the difference between life and death.

While undergoing chemotherapy to fight leukaemia the 39-year-old spent months in and out of intensive care battling ongoing infections, some of which could never be accurately diagnosed or treated with the most appropriate drugs.

“If we had something like c-FIND, where you can actually diagnose rapidly and quickly the infections people have, you are suddenly targeting the right treatment towards that.

“It means less time in hospital and less risk to them.”

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