Point-of-Care Sensor Device for Early Stage Detection of COVID-19 Using Isothermal DNA Amplification [Funder: Carleton University COVID-19 Rapid Research Response Grants]
- Funded by Other Funders (Canada)
- Total publications:0 publications
Grant number: unknown
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Key facts
Disease
COVID-19Funder
Other Funders (Canada)Principal Investigator
Ravi PrakashResearch Location
CanadaLead Research Institution
Carleton UniversityResearch 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 pandemic has caused a global healthcare crisis which necessitates extensive, rigorous, and early stage screening of the virus. A significant challenge in monitoring community spread is that over 50% of carriers can be asymptomatic and still spread the infection. As a result, extensive testing at centralized laboratories would be challenging. Existing DNA and antibody biomarker-based COVID-19 tests have also been limited due to their complexity and dependence on benchtop instruments. There is a strong push towards designing rapid point-of-care (POC) nucleic acid test (NAT) systems to extract and amplify the viral RNA using improved DNA molecular probes to facilitate miniaturization and reduce screening time. Our interdisciplinary research team possesses expertise in POC NAT system design for influenza and arboviruses, and novel DNA biomarker discovery. We have initiated a sustainable partnership to significantly improve the existing sensor device design and incorporate novel isothermal DNA amplification primers for COVID-19 testing.