Devin Host Depletion Outperforms Blood Cultures in Clinical Study

Micronbrane Medical Transforms Pathogen Identification with Revolutionary Metagenomics Next-Generation Sequencing Technologies.

Clinical Study Finds the Company’s Devin™ Fractionation Membrane and Metagenomics Assay is More Accurate and Faster than Blood Cultures and Assays without a Host Depletion Filter.

TAOYUAN CITY, TAIWAN, July 20, 2023 — Micronbrane Medical, a biotechnology start-up developing metagenomic-based technologies, today announced the publication of a clinical study demonstrating the superiority of the company’s proprietary Devin™ Fractionation Membrane and metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) assay to diagnose sepsis.

Conducted at the Taipei Veterans General Hospital, the study showed that the patented Devin Fractionated Membrane enabled a genomic DNA (gDNA) based workflow, the Pathogen Real-Time Identification by Sequencing (PaRTI-Seq™️) assay, provides a more efficient and accurate means of pathogen identification in patients with suspected sepsis compared to traditional blood cultures and mNGS methods without a host depletion filter.

Blood cultures are limited in their ability to detect viruses or mixed infections, have a low diagnostic yield, and long turnaround time. In contrast, mNGS could provide a more efficient and accurate means of a broad range of pathogen identification if human DNA interference is effectively eliminated.

Micronbrane Medical’s patented Zwitterionic Interface Ultra-Self-assemble Coating Technology (ZISC Technology) removes greater than 99% of human nucleated cells of up to 10 mL whole blood (or other body fluids) in five minutes. The study found that the Devin Fractionated Membrane with the PaRTI-Seq workflow achieved higher positivity rates and increased reads per million (RPM) over 100-fold compared to mNGS without a filter.

The gDNA-based PaRTI-Seq assay significantly increased microbial RPM, with an average RPM of 2359 compared to only 95 by the cfDNA-based mNGS method. Moreover, Micronbrane Medical’s easy and efficient workflow allows for sample to pathogen identification within 24 hours, offering a significant advantage over traditional blood cultures, which can take several days to produce results.

“Micronbrane Medical is dedicated to revolutionizing pathogen identification through easy, accurate and cost-effective metagenomic next-generation sequencing,” said Mengchu Wu, Ph.D., co-founder, and CEO. “Our Devin ZISC Technology and PaRTI-Seq assay remove the barriers to widespread adoption of sequencing in both research and clinical settings to deepen our understanding of the microbial world.”

With the high morbidity and mortality rates associated with sepsis, the study provides evidence that Micronbrane Medical’s Devin and PaRTI-Seq assay are essential tools in the fight against sepsis and other infectious diseases, potentially saving millions of lives worldwide.

How the Devin Filter Compares to Alternative Host Depletion Methods

The TVGH study demonstrated the clinical value of host depletion for mNGS, but it is worth understanding why the Devin filter outperforms alternative approaches. Five established host depletion methods are currently available, each with significant trade-offs that affect both performance and practicality.

Size-based filtration separates cells by physical size using membranes with small pore sizes (around 5 micrometers). While fast and inexpensive, these filters clog rapidly, limiting sample input volume and reducing detection sensitivity for low-abundance pathogens. Differential lysis — currently the most widely used chemical/enzymatic method — selectively lyses human cells with gentle detergent followed by DNase treatment. However, the DNase step also digests cell-free microbial DNA in the sample, reducing sensitivity for pathogens that release DNA extracellularly, and the protocol requires 60 to 80 minutes of processing time.

Hybridization and magnetic bead capture uses sequence-specific probes to pull down host DNA, achieving 60% to 90% depletion efficiency. The workflow takes 1.5 to 3 hours and risks non-specific hybridization that removes microbial DNA along with host sequences. DNA methylation-based depletion leverages higher methylation levels in human DNA, but neither methyl-dependent restriction enzymes nor methyl-DNA-binding proteins are truly specific — unmethylated human regions escape depletion, and some methylated bacterial genomes are incorrectly removed. CRISPR-Cas targeted digestion is conceptually elegant but practically challenging, requiring extensive guide RNA library design and up to 16 hours of processing time.

The Devin filter’s zwitterionic charge-based approach is fundamentally different: it captures intact mammalian nucleated cells before any DNA is released, using a membrane coated with double-charged zwitterionic polymers (ZISC technology). The deliberately large pore size (15 to 20 micrometers) means filtration completes in under five minutes with no reagents, chemicals, or enzymes required. Because the filter captures whole cells rather than manipulating extracted DNA, cell-free microbial DNA passes through unaffected — addressing the key limitation of differential lysis.

Broader Clinical Validation Beyond Sepsis

While the TVGH study focused on sepsis patients using whole blood, clinical validation data from multiple medical centers in Taiwan has since confirmed the Devin filter’s effectiveness across a wider range of sample types. Published customer studies demonstrated similar depletion efficiency across multiple nucleated cell types, including epithelial cells, cancer cells, and myeloid leukemia cells.

Internal validation extended the filter’s application to vaginal lavage samples (stored in RNAlater) — see Vaginal Microbiome Profiling with PaRTI-Seq for a complete application workflow — and low-volume specimens such as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and aqueous humor — samples as small as 50 microliters — using a modified protocol. Frozen biological fluids, including urine samples stored for up to 24 hours, also showed efficient host cell removal, though performance depends on the freeze-thaw protocol used. Across these studies, microbial reads per million (RPM) increased by 100- to 1,000-fold compared to unprocessed samples, consistent with the TVGH findings.

For a detailed comparison of all five host depletion methods with benchmarking data, see Benchmarking Host Depletion: 5 Methods Compared for mNGS.

Related Articles

• Benchmarking Host Depletion: 5 Methods Compared for mNGS
• XNA vs Enzymatic Host Depletion: Which Method Fits Your Workflow?

Next Step for Sepsis mNGS Workflows

For laboratories evaluating host-depleted pathogen identification, review the Devin Host Depletion Filter for upstream sample preparation and PaRTI-Seq Analysis for downstream pathogen reporting.

About Micronbrane Medical

At Micronbrane Medical, our mission is to develop genomic innovations that enrich our understanding of microorganisms to benefit human health and ensure sustainability. The company’s proprietary technologies include host specialized collection devices, novel host depletion, optimized reagents and consumables, advanced metagenomic sequencing assays, plus rapid bioinformatic analysis software. The combined Micronbrane Medical solution enables fast and accurate identification and monitoring of a broad range of microorganisms, including bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites. Headquartered in Taiwan, the company has partnerships and collaborations with leading academic institutions, health systems, and clinical laboratories worldwide, underscoring its commitment to transforming our relationship with the microbial world.