Consumer tech converted to rapidly test for Covid-19

The Lab-in-Cartridge rapid tests – based on Imperial College London’s Prof Chris Toumazou’s DnaNudge DNA testing innovation – are said to have been clinically validated after a successful initial trial on COVID-19 patients and are continuing to validate on larger patient groups.

MORE ON THE ENGINEERING RESPONSE TO COVID-19 HERE

Interview: Professor Chris Toumazou

The evaluation will now involve large-scale clinical testing with a view to extensive national roll-out, as part of the drive to meet the UK government’s testing targets. To this end, the Department of Health and Social Care has procured 10,000 DnaNudge COVID-19 RNA testing cartridges to roll out to clinical sites.

Experts at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust are working with the Imperial College London and DnaNudge team to enable the new test to be applied to patients and staff if it continues to prove successful.

According to Imperial College a key advantage of DnaNudge’s solution is that the RNA polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test requires no sample handling and is able to deliver processing outside of a laboratory environment – using DnaNudge’s patented and miniaturised NudgeBox analyser.