FURI | Spring 2018

Blood Based Mass Spectrometry Assay for Rapid Diagnosis and Treatment Monitoring of Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a threat to millions of people, partly due to poor sputum-based diagnostic techniques which poses detection limitations to susceptible victims, such as pediatrics, Extrapulmonary TB, and HIV positive patients. As such, the World Health Organization has called for better methods of diagnosing Tuberculosis. A blood-based Mass Spectrometry (MS) assay has proved inclusiveness and excellent results in sensitivity and specificity of Tuberculosis biomarkers (antigens) than more prevalent methods. The objective of this study is to validate and optimize the use of the blood-based MS assay for clinical translation as a standard approach for diagnosis and management of Tuberculosis.