Developing a new leprosy diagnostic test

描述(申请人提供)：麻风病是一种古老的疾病，几千年来一直给人类带来痛苦。虽然化疗和诊断方面取得了进展，但仍迫切需要一种良好的诊断测试，以改进监测和早期发现。我们可以获得候选蛋白质和一个诊断平台，这可能会彻底改变麻风病的诊断。在这项应用中，我们将构建原型并在大量人群中对其进行评估，以证明这些工具比目前批准的诊断试剂盒工作得更好。如果现场测试顺利，我们将着手该产品的生产和销售。我们希望在本资金周期结束时进行下一代麻风现场诊断测试。公共卫生相关性可靠地预测和诊断麻风病将极大地帮助世界各地的治疗和根除计划。通过验证这一现场试验并将其商业化，我们打算改善全球健康状况。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Leprosy is an age-old disease that has been causing human suffering for millennia. Although chemotherapeutic and diagnostic advances have been made, there is still an urgent need for a good diagnostic test in order to improve monitoring and early detection. We have access to protein candidates and a diagnostic platform that could revolutionize the diagnosis of leprosy. In this application we will build prototypes and evaluate them in large populations to demonstrate that these tools work better than the currently approved diagnostic kits. If the field testing goes well we will proceed with manufacture and marketing of this product. We hope to have the next generation diagnostic field test for leprosy at the end of this funding cycle. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE Reliably predicting and diagnosing leprosy would greatly assist treatment and eradication programs around the world. By validating and commercializing this field test we intend to improve global health.