RAPID BLOOD TESTS FOR SEVERAL DISEASES WILL BECOME INCREASINGLY IMPORTANT IN THE FUTURE
The novel and proprietary sensing technology allows the simultaneous (multiplexed) analysis of dozens of disease markers from a single drop of body fluid in a portable device. The sensitivity and the ability to perform large sets of marker analysis in very short time has the capability to bring the full performance of existing and established state of the art technologies, such as ELISA and other immunoassays directly to the point of care, as simple and easy as the measurement of blood sugar levels.
The overall reductions in costs, the short time-to-results (< 10 minutes) and the tremendous amounts of vital data that are generated are transforming the health care sector in an unforeseeable way.
The limit of detection (LOD) was shown to be in the small femtomolar range for various polypeptides, even further in the attomolar regime for short DNA fragments and finally down to the detection of single virus particles.
The small overall sensor dimensions (in the micrometer range) and the fast read-out cycles allow the implementation of multiple differently functionalized sensors onto a single disposable chip, thus enabling the real-time assessment of concentration profiles of different target analytes within a single droplet of fluid. This allows for quantitative assessment of biomarker concentrations of virtually any kind within a fully customizable multiplexed assay in a POC setting.