SBIR Phase I: Development and assessment of a diagnostic platform for rapid identification of COVID-19 patients without using custom reagents
- Funded by National Science Foundation (NSF)
- Total publications:0 publications
Grant number: unknown
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Key facts
Disease
COVID-19Start & end year
20202020Known Financial Commitments (USD)
$256,000Funder
National Science Foundation (NSF)Principal Investigator
Rajesh KrishnamurthyResearch Location
United States of AmericaLead Research Institution
3I Diagnostics IncResearch 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 broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to deploy a diagnostic to rapidly and inexpensively detect COVID-19 infections. Beyond the short-term goal of identifying COVID-19 patients, the technology will lend strong support for real-time infection tracking nationally. The same hardware components of the diagnostic can be used to identify a wide variety of pathogens without custom reagents. The system will work with a cloud-based database and monitoring system to rapidly identify hotspots of increased pathogen activity, enabling faster response to new pathogens since no hardware-related development, manufacturing, and distribution are needed. Once a new pathogen?s fingerprint is obtained, it can be easily distributed to deployed instruments to enable immediately tracking of the new pathogen.
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop a rapid diagnostic capable of detecting SARS-nCoV2 directly from sample matrices without the use of custom reagents (like DNA) or a cold supply chain. The approach isolates intact virus directly from the specimen with the help of a disposable cartridge and a syringe pump. The isolated virus is then identified using Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR). The proposed work leverages the differential response to mechanical stress between the virus and the components of a sample matrix. This differential response is used to selectively lyse only the sample matrix components, not the virus. The debris is subsequently separated from the virus by size-based separation methods such as filtration, enabling rapid isolation of a broad range of pathogens directly from the sample. FTIR is used to identify the isolated virus since pathogens exhibit unique spectral fingerprints in the infrared region. The proposed Phase I effort will develop the protocol for isolating and identifying intact virus and will demonstrate the performance with nasopharyngeal swab samples. The results will be compared against results from RT-PCR methods to assess comparability.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop a rapid diagnostic capable of detecting SARS-nCoV2 directly from sample matrices without the use of custom reagents (like DNA) or a cold supply chain. The approach isolates intact virus directly from the specimen with the help of a disposable cartridge and a syringe pump. The isolated virus is then identified using Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR). The proposed work leverages the differential response to mechanical stress between the virus and the components of a sample matrix. This differential response is used to selectively lyse only the sample matrix components, not the virus. The debris is subsequently separated from the virus by size-based separation methods such as filtration, enabling rapid isolation of a broad range of pathogens directly from the sample. FTIR is used to identify the isolated virus since pathogens exhibit unique spectral fingerprints in the infrared region. The proposed Phase I effort will develop the protocol for isolating and identifying intact virus and will demonstrate the performance with nasopharyngeal swab samples. The results will be compared against results from RT-PCR methods to assess comparability.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.