A new device that can return the result of a dung sample within 30 minutes has been created by an Irish company named Telenostic Vision.

Its co-founder Clare Hughes told the Irish Farmers Journal that the technology is ‘revolutionary’ in terms of changing how animal health is managed on farms.

“Our technology is completely revolutionary because to date this is only done in a lab by a trained person. It takes a long time, the sample has to go from the farm to the lab and the person can’t record or validate the results. What we are doing is automating this with best practise so that the results are instantaneous,” said Hughes.

The device tests the sample for gut parasites in healthy and sick animals.

Treatment

“In order to monitor and target your treatment you need to know what you are treating because there are lots of drug resistance to a lot of antihelmintics. So you can firstly ensure they have good health, maximum productivity and better use of dosing agents, which is also ethical in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and preventing disease resistance. By doing blanket treatment you are promoting disease resistance,” she said.

Telenostic is a spin off of CF Pharma Ireland limited. It aims to sell its reader for €700 to €800 when it comes to market and the cassette with this will be “quite cheap”.

“At the moment it probably costs €17 to €20 for a [laboratory] dung sample, ours will probably be around €15,” Hughes said. “By making it quick, instantaneous and linking it in with a vet you are forcing an action straight away and that action will help you to save money.”

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