LabAnywhere: Technology for Detection of Coronavirus in Remote Settings
- Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
- Total publications:0 publications
Grant number: 170657
Grant search
Key facts
Disease
COVID-19Known Financial Commitments (USD)
$253,591.28Funder
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)Principal Investigator
William M WhelanResearch Location
CanadaLead Research Institution
University of Prince Edward IslandResearch Priority Alignment
N/A
Research Category
Pathogen: natural history, transmission and diagnostics
Research Subcategory
Diagnostics
Special Interest Tags
N/A
Study Type
Non-Clinical
Clinical Trial Details
N/A
Broad Policy Alignment
Pending
Age Group
Not Applicable
Vulnerable Population
Not applicable
Occupations of Interest
Not applicable
Abstract
The COVID-19 disease is caused by a virus. Since the symptoms of the COVID-19 disease are similar to many other illnesses, accurate detection and correct identification of the virus in a patient is important to know whether or not the patient is suffering from COVID-19 versus another disease. The current gold-standard detection uses sophisticated molecular biology that must be done in a laboratory by trained technicians. Our research team has developed LabAnywhere, a system intended for rugged use in agriculture. Its called LabAnywhere because it is designed for use in a barn or farm field where there may not be any clean enclosed space to do complex sample handling. The viruses are different in veterinary medicine, but with some modifications, the technology can be applied to human diseases in remote settings. The proposed research will piggyback upon existing projects. The research team; a design engineer, along with experts in medical biophysics, protein chemistry, and veterinary diseases have been testing a pen-side system for the livestock industries. The design is a simple, easy to deploy handheld system for a molecular biologic assay where there is no laboratory available, such as on a ship at sea or in a remote community many days travel from a laboratory. The project will use easily handled, safe viruses from the animal world for initial testing to validate the methods, then move to tests using human viruses once initial trials are complete.