Home-testing option announced for IBD patients

The solution has been designed for patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and allows individuals to routinely self-monitor their disease activity by quantitatively measuring their faecal calprotectin levels at home. 

SmarTest Calprotectin Home is a rapid lateral flow device that uses gold-conjugated anti-calprotectin antibodies to detect this important biomarker of IBD activity. The companion app then scans and quantitatively analyses the intensity of the control and test lines, giving a faecal calprotectin concentration in μg/g. Results are stored in the app and in the cloud, and can be automatically sent to the patient’s IBD healthcare team, who monitor their patients via a free-to-use web portal. This enables remote tracking of disease progression, potentially allowing earlier intervention before symptoms even occur. 

The app also includes clinically validated Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis questionnaires that ask the patient a series of questions about their disease activity and symptoms every time they perform a test. This generates a patient-reported score that correlates with endoscopic disease activity, enabling swift therapeutic intervention by practitioners and supporting patient-initiated follow up. 

This novel digital healthcare solution allows IBD teams to proactively and successfully manage their patients’ conditions in the long term, and has the capability to reduce the need for rescue therapy and hospital appointments. Tests are a discreet pocket size, can be stored at room temperature, and only take 20 minutes to complete, offering both empowerment and convenience to IBD sufferers.

Meet the BIOHIT team and see a demonstration of the app in action on Stand A56 at the upcoming BSG LIVE ’22 event, which will take place from the 20-23 June at the Birmingham ICC.