Market feasibility to explore development of a novel low-cost point-of-care diagnostic platform for diabetic screening in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Diabetes is a major global challenge for which the vast majority (\>90%) of cases have type-2 diabetes that is largely preventable/manageable through lifestyle interventions if caught early. Early detection is key to long-term management of the condition, enabling cost savings per patient and an increase in life-years.Existing portable diagnostic techniques (urine dipstick; fingerstick blood glucose) are inconvenient/invasive, inaccurate & use single-use plastics, and thus not recommended.Glyconics seeks to overcome this challenge using of a point-of-care diagnostics platform enabling rapid, low-cost, high-accuracy Patient screening, using clinically proven non-invasive infrared reflectance measurements of the Patient's fingernail.The technique is quick, accessible and has the potential to significantly reduce the number false-positive referrals, delivering patient cost savings (compared to the gold-standard questionnaires).The project will investigate the possibility of introducing the technology into ODA countries, with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) being researched in this project. DRC has the 5th highest incidence of diabetes in Africa (WHO 2015) and it is a recognised problem within the country.Market and clinical research, including patient measurements, clinical pathways, engagement with patient groups and health economics assessment.The research will be conducted in collaboration with Université Catholique de Bukavu and Diabetes Africa.