Background

Point-of-care (POC) diagnostics facilitate disease diagnosis out of healthcare facilities with elementary instruction to use and perform. They need a small sample volume of biological media, and they provide the result in minutes to hours. POC diagnostics obviate the need for hospital admission, invasive interventions, healthcare-related travel expenses, and work absence. Empowering individuals to do their own test increases their adherence to both diagnosis and treatment. POC instruments are more cost-efficient compared to conventional diagnostic settings since they usually incorporate inexpensive cartridges or chips and eliminate expenses associated with sample handling. The success of POC diagnostics such as glucose meters and pregnancy tests as well as the emergence of the unmet need during the COVID-19 pandemic for rapid and accurate disease diagnosis have opened an active venue for more innovation in this field. However, different features of POC diagnostics, including accuracy, ease of use, storage, and cost, still need to be improved.

Technology Overview

Northeastern spinout, Transversal Therapeutics, has developed a novel electrochemical device for rapid and point of care liquid-based detection of bio-analytes. This device comprises a substrate, sample placement area, a working electrode, and a counter electrode disposed on the substrate. After depositing the biologic sample in the sample placement area, a voltage is applied to the electrodes and a measure of presence/absence or amount/concentration of the bio-analytes is obtained. Layers deposited on working electrodes comprises different materials, including graphene, carbon nanotubes, or nanoparticles, and functionalized with various cross-linkers, redox probes, detection enzymes/antibodies, or aptamers. This device also constitutes a transmitter for sending wireless signals from the device to the computer, mobile phone, or other remote monitoring devices. Proof of concept of the device has been demonstrated by saliva-based detection of SARS-CoV-2 with a reliable result comparable to the PCR standard test result. This POC diagnostic can be used at home for individuals without training and it provides the result within 3-5 minutes.

Benefits

Rapid
Non-invasive
Highly sensitive
Reliable and Accurate

Applications

Viral diseases diagnosis
Cancer diagnosis
Diabetes diagnosis and management

Opportunity

Testing and validating MVP with pilot partner(s)
Connecting with prospective investors

Liquid-Based, Rapid, and Point-of-Care Diagnosis Device for Viral Diseases, Diabetes, and Cancer

IP Status

Seeking