Abstract

Developing a handheld device for sample-to-result molecular diagnostics in twenty minutes

Jonathan O'Halloran, Chief Scientific Officer/Co Founder, QuantuMDx Group Ltd

With the recent and widely reported outbreaks of Ebola & Chikungunya and the ongoing global battle against drug resistance, the need for a portable device that can deliver 20 minute turn around NAATs is ever more acute. Jonathan O'Halloran, CSO of QuantuMDx will present the development of his company's handheld sample-to-result device, Q-POC. The battery-powered, user-friendly device will deliver referral laboratory-standard results at the point of care. The device will perform extraction, PCR and multiplex label-free microarray detection using a silicon nanowire array, and the company has also developed a novel DNA sequencing chemistry for possible de novo or discovery application of the technology in the future. Excitingly the company has recently hit the significant milestone of full integration of the platform in an alpha prototype.