Total joint replacement surgeries are rapidly increasing, recently surpassing the million-unit mark. So too, however, are infections associated with those surgeries. Infections must be removed immediately unless the likelihood of bone damage increases. Determining whether there's an infection is vital, because presence of infection usually means two more major surgeries.

CD Diagnostics aims to establish a more efficient way to diagnose an infected total joint. The company's scientific founder and chief medical officer, Carl Deirmengian, MD, discovered protein biomarkers (secreted from white blood sells) that are unique to infected total knee replacements and can be used to diagnose infection. He received a patent for the discovery in 2009 and CD Diagnostics is now developing two tests built around this technology. The first test is a lab test kit to be used in hospital labs and the other is a point-of-care test similar to over-the-counter pregnancy tests that can be used in an operating room, doctor's office or emergency room. The tests promise faster and more accurate diagnosis of infection.

Deirmengian is an award-winning practicing orthopaedic surgeon at Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, Montgomery County, performing more than 500 total joint replacements annually. He was able to usher CD Diagnostics into the Corporate Development Program of BioStrategy Partners, a virtual life sciences incubator that serves northern Greater Philadelphia. Support from BioStrategy Partners helped the company obtain a Regulatory Opinion Letter from a prominent Washington, D.C., law firm and a grant that enabled CD to hire a professional firm that provided business plan assistance.

The company, led by CEO Michael Behr, is poised to grow as it explores potential relationships through which it can manufacture and distribute its tests. Behr is a 20 year veteran of the orthaepedic industry and has been with CD since 2008.