THE TECHNOLOGY
AN EASY TO USE 4 MINUTE TEST
QXD technology deploys proteins, antigens, and antibodies specific to identifying different microbial agents by their quorum signal compound. The diagnostic carrier is a lateral flow stick with unique combinations of nitrocellulose materials. The average time from loading the lateral flow stick with a solution containing samples of the microbes is 4 minutes or less.
WHAT IS QUORUM SENSING?
QXD LOOKS AT THE WHOLE INFECTION CYCLE.
Bacteria, Fungi and Viruses don't just appear and cause infection. They have whole unique complex life cycles. Traditional diagnostic methods only identify if a bug is present, but do not give indication where it is in the infection cycle.
QXD looks at the whole infection cycle and listens into their communication languages, called quorum sensing (QS). The microbe morphs from 1 infection stage to the next when the concentration of a particular Quorum sensing compound's density hits a certain threshold.
By doing this, QXD identifies the developing infection sooner, faster, and with more accurracy than current time consuming, traditional labor intensive methods. QXD gets results at point-of-care within minutes.
WHAT CAUSES THE YEAST INFECTION?
The female "yeast infection" is typically caused by Candida albicans (CA). CA is part of the normal flora in the female vaginal canal. It's growth is typically kept "in-check" by the normal flora in the area. When a disruption occurs such as a pH change, CA will start to overgrow in the area. CA goes through a number of steps within its life cycle from single-celled yeast to hyphae, to pseudohyphae, to filamentous fungi, and eventually to biofilm. Each step is controlled by unique, specific quorum sensing compounds. The female symptoms of burning, itching, odor, discomfort, and discharge are also under unique QS control. QXD uses QS compounds as a way of identifying infection sooner than other more tradiitional diagnostic methods.
(M.Kruppa, 2009) (CV-CDC, 2023)
WHAT CAUSES BACTERIAL VAGINOSIS?
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) causes almost identical symptoms to the "yeast infection." Women experience burning, itching, odor, discomfort, and discharge. BV is a bacterial infection, not a fungal infection. You cannot treat BV infections with off-the-shelf antifungal treatments that females use for the "yeast infections." You need a prescription for an antibiotic from the doctor.
Left untreated BV can make women more suspetible to STD's and can cause pelvic inflamatory disease, where BV bacteria infect the uterus and fallopian tubes and pre-term births.
BV is caused by Gardenellia vaginalsis (GV). It uses GV specific QS sensing molecules to attach to the vaginal surface. Like CA, Gardenella has several steps in the infection cycle, which ends in a polymicrobial biofilm. Each step is under QS control. By listening and identifing these signals BV can be identified sooner and treatment can occur faster.
(Schwebke, et. al., 2023) (BV-CDC, 2023)