A Baltimore diagnostic firm closed a $2 million funding round on Thursday that it hopes will help launch a device to give patients with urinary tract infections a quick route to recovery.

Astek Diagnostics' funding round is led by Wexford Science and Technology's venture capital arm, the Wexford SciTech Venture Fund, with participation from Iyana Capital, the Maryland Momentum Fund and the Maryland Technology Development Corp. (TEDCO)Founder Mustafa Al-Adhami said the money will enable the startup's Jiddu device to go commercial and be part of five clinical studies to prove that it is effective in diagnosing urinary tract infections faster than a traditional blood test.

Al-Adhami said that Jiddu will help doctors immediately determine what antibiotic a UTI patient needs so they can avoid the agonizing limbo period between the diagnosis of the illness and receiving proper treatment.

Read the full story from Maryland Inno.