Sensitive POC diagnostics for the rapid detection of COVID-19 virus

该项目将使用智能指纹识别的现有技术-该技术具有高灵敏度的侧流技术和便携式测试读取器中的荧光测量技术-并将开发用于创建“即时”测试，允许非医疗专业人员快速安全地进行COVID-19测试。智能指纹识别将与伦敦帝国理工学院全球健康创新研究所的研究人员合作，以验证其测试方法并加速开发。目前的冠状病毒诊断测试--判断人们是否感染了COVID-19病毒--如果测试样本需要送到实验室进行分析，可能需要几个小时甚至几天的时间。相比之下，智能指纹识别方法的工作原理是将指纹汗液收集到一个小型测试盒上，使用便携式读取器进行分析，有可能在短短10分钟内现场提供阳性或阴性的COVID-19结果。该系统是卫生和非侵入性的，并且通过使用来自指纹的汗液而不是鼻腔或口腔液样本，每次测试都不会产生有害的生物废物。智能指纹识别的测试解决方案具有一个小型的防篡改筛选盒，在不到一分钟的时间内收集10个指纹汗液样本。智能指纹便携式DSR-Plus分析单元随后读取检测盒，并在10分钟内在屏幕上提供阳性或阴性结果。将DSR-Plus读取器与专用冠状病毒检测盒相结合，将为一种稳健、极其灵敏和快速的COVID-19检测提供基础，该检测适合在一系列地点部署。使用便携式系统进行指纹检测，对于支持英国多个地点（如养老院和工作场所）的未经医学培训的工作人员进行简单易行的检测也特别有价值。

Public descriptionThe project will use Intelligent Fingerprinting's existing technology -- which features highly sensitive lateral flow technology and fluorescence measurement techniques within a portable test reader -- and be developed to create a 'point-of-care' test that allows COVID-19 testing to be carried out quickly and safely by non-medical professionals. Intelligent Fingerprinting will work with researchers at the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London to validate its testing approach and accelerate development.A fingerprint-based system could play a significant role in enabling rapid coronavirus testing at the point of care. Current diagnostic tests for coronavirus -- which tell whether people have the COVID-19 virus -- can take hours or even days if the test sample needs to be sent off to a laboratory for analysis. In contrast, the Intelligent Fingerprinting approach, which works by collecting fingerprint sweat onto a small test cartridge for analysis using a portable reader, has potential to deliver a positive or negative COVID-19 result on-site within just ten minutes. The system is hygienic and non-invasive and by using the sweat from fingerprints rather than nasal or oral fluid samples, there is no hazardous biological waste associated with each test.Intelligent Fingerprinting's testing solution features a small, tamper-evident screening cartridge onto which ten fingerprint sweat samples are collected, in a process which takes less than a minute. The Intelligent Fingerprinting portable DSR-Plus analysis unit then reads the cartridge and provides a positive or negative result on-screen in ten minutes. Combining the DSR-Plus reader with a dedicated coronavirus testing cartridge would provide the basis for a robust, extremely sensitive and rapid COVID-19 test that is suitable for deployment at a range of locations.Fingerprint testing using a portable system would also be particularly valuable in supporting simple and easy testing by non-medically trained staff at multiple sites across the UK, such as care homes and workplaces.