A new rapid test could improve treatment of urinary tract infections (UTIs), by identifying the most effective antibiotic for each individual patient.

The test applies different antibiotics to bacteria found in urine samples, to see which one best suppresses bacterial growth, researchers recently reported in the journal Microbiology Spectrum.

This new method could cut a full day off the time between testing and prescription, researchers said, and arm a patient with the best means of clearing their infection.

"The sooner we know which antibiotic is effective, the more targeted our treatment can be," senior researcher Oliver Hayden, a professor of biomedical electronics at the Technical University of Munich in Germany, said in a news release.

"This means we won't have to use broad-spectrum antibiotics as often, which should be used sparingly due to the development of resistance," he continued.

Currently, urinary tract infections are typically diagnosed using a urine test that looks for indicators of infection like elevated levels of white blood cells, researchers said in background notes.

Upon diagnosis, doctors often prescribe a broad-spectrum antibiotic without determining the exact cause of infection, researchers said — essentially using a shotgun approach to make sure the UTI is wiped out.

Lab analysis to determine the cause of infection is only used for high-risk patients and can take two to three days.

In the new test, urine samples are applied directly to petri dishes containing different antibiotic disks. Technicians then measure how much bacterial growth has been suppressed by each antibiotic.

The new test agreed about 94% of the time with results from the standard method of analysis, the study found.

Because this new test cuts out a significant amount of lab work, the time it takes to get results is reduced by up to 24 hours compared to conventional testing, researchers said.

Researchers are now developing a paper-based device that uses a similar method to identify eight different bacterial species and indicate their potential resistance to antibiotics.

"Our goal is a small, easy-to-use test that can be deployed in any medical practice with minimal effort and, in the future, also allows patients to test themselves at home using a paper-based device with results displayed on their smartphone," said lead researcher Henning Sabersky-Müssigbrodt, a doctoral researcher at the Technical University of Munich.

"The technology is designed so that it can also be applied in low-resource settings, where rapid and reliable diagnostics are particularly critical," Sabersky-Müssigbrodt added in a news release.