Development of a Point-of-Care Diagnostic Test Strip for at Home Diagnosis of COVID-19

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COVID-19 has resulted in an unprecedented global health crisis. The shortage of available testing and the cumbersome process these tests entail has hampered tracking the disease and timely isolation of infected individuals. The proposed project aims to develop a highly accurate, fast and affordable test for the COVID-19. Extensive and immediate testing of symptomatic and asymptomatic people is critical for effective implementation of containment policies. Rapid low-cost testing is also urgently needed to ensure that medical resources can be appropriately apportioned to geographic regions based on infection rates. The high risk groups, especially indigenous communities and the population living in rural areas are particularly vulnerable as their access to medical centers is limited. Based on a method developed to detect the common cold, we aim to develop the test strip that contains particles which have unique responses when bound to the virus. These responses can be detected with a low-cost technology. This project will facilitate widespread testing for COVID-19 by developing diagnostic test strip for at home diagnosis. The team will collaborate on each step of the project with experts from industry partner BioMedica Diagnostics, which will ensure the development of a diagnostic method that is suitable for large scale manufacturing and commercialization. Successful completion of the project will advance the state of the art in the field of point-of-care diagnostic, and provide practical and efficient solutions for COVID-19 testing.