Rapid detection of cerebrospinal fluid leaks in trauma

Novel point-of-care (POC) rapid diagnostic technologies encompasses many areas like, cancer, diabetes, infectious diseases as well as identifying toxins, drugs and drugs of abuse. There is an urgent need for procuring rapid results of clinical symptoms in any health care setting, as speed is of essence to diagnose the disease/symptom. POC rapid tests are used in many settings like physician's offices, emergency rooms, clinical laboratories, home use and even in battle fields. Taking scientific and clinical observations from our clinics and research labs as examples, novel methods and tools to rapidly identify the disease and disease processes were developed. In particular, a specific example of cerebrospinal fluid leak detection will be discussed with special emphasis on trauma associated with accidents and battle field injuries. A technique to identify CSF in biological fluids was developed, which would help the physicians and support personnel to detect CSF leaks in a rapid, simple, inexpensive manner. The technique is based on identifying a CSF specific protein marker by highly specific antibodies against this marker protein. This technology was easily adapted to laboratory settings with a precise and rapid turnover of results, and also as a rapid bedside diagnostic test to be used in Emergency and Trauma first response settings, labor and delivery rooms, Operating rooms as well as to be used by support staff like EMTs, RNs, and PAs. This technique to rapidly identify CSF in body fluids would help the health care provider to diagnose the disease, avoid associated complications in invasive procedures, and serves as a tool to rapidly decide on optimal patient management as well as help assess the efficacy of treatment. It is expected that such a test will be used as a routine safety/diagnostic test for anyone undergoing epidural anesthesia, suffering base of skull fracture, skull based surgery and in any conditions where it is important to detect the presence of CSF.