# A Multiplex Analyzer for Sepsis Management

> **NIH NIH R43** · CASCADE METRIX, LLC · 2022 · $349,917

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Sepsis, a life-threatening organ dysfunction accounts for over 50 million cases globally and is the leading cause
of death. Early intervention via antibiotic therapy, ventilator management, blood glucose maintenance, red blood
cell transfusions, and fluid resuscitative strategies reduce mortality from sepsis when supported by appropriate
diagnostics and ongoing monitoring. Notably, the latest Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines (Sepsis-3) has
established blood lactate levels as a key vital sign for septic shock and acknowledged that early management of
infection can reverse lactic acidosis and shock status. Every hour of delay in treatment from the time of diagnosis
to antibiotic therapy increases mortality of septic shock by 7.6%. Thus, there has been great interest in culture-
independent analysis at the point of care for early sepsis diagnosis, management, and prevention of antibiotic
overuse. Current clinical literature has highlighted lactate, glucose, hematocrit, and oxygen saturation as early
biomarkers of sepsis diagnosis and ongoing monitoring of therapy, be it fluid resuscitations to deal with
hypoperfusion; insulin infusion to deal with hyperglycemia; packed blood cell transfusions to deal with anemia;
or oxygenation therapies to deal with shock. However, compliance with the Sepsis-3 mandated timely lactate and
other analytical measurements is poor due to various pre-analytical and analytical challenges. Notably, capillary
blood glucose monitoring devices based on strips are labor intensive and erroneous, while blood gas analyzers
have long turnaround times and waste substantial blood volume in patients who may already be anemic. Timely
knowledge of the big 4 critical analytes (glucose, lactate, hematocrit and ScvO2) can allow prompt and
appropriate administration of antibiotic therapy and supporting interventions thereby significantly reducing
morbidity and mortality. This forms the basis of the patient-attached automated 4-plex measurement system
proposed by Cascade Metrix (CMX).
The CMX Automated Multiplex Analyzer (AutoPlexer) is a patient-attached system that enables timely, accurate,
and cost-efficient delivery of automated lactate, glucose, hematocrit and oxygen saturation measurements in
whole blood using proven electrochemistry and spectrophotometry without the need for any caregiver sample
handling of infectious blood or any blood loss to the patient. The AutoPlexer system performs measurements at
user-defined intervals or on-demand by pulling micro-volumes of blood across the sensors for measurement
followed by a safe return of the blood using saline in a completely closed-loop, heparin-free, sterilized and
biocompatible tubing-based blood pathway. Prior to each measurement, the system performs an automatic
calibration to ensure high accuracy. A pilot pre-clinical study in rat and swine models has been performed which
helped validate the preliminary design of the prototype for automated glucose meas...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10483277
- **Project number:** 1R43GM146498-01
- **Recipient organization:** CASCADE METRIX, LLC
- **Principal Investigator:** Kislaya Kunjan
- **Activity code:** R43 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $349,917
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-08-05 → 2024-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10483277

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10483277, A Multiplex Analyzer for Sepsis Management (1R43GM146498-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10483277. Licensed CC0.

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