Affordable technology to fight COVID-19 from Campus Terra

Tecnoloxía a baixo custo fronte á COVID dende o Campus Terra

Researchers from the Lugo Campus are developing a fast and affordable COVID detection system as part of the NANOFLUIDETEC project

Lugo

Friday, February 4, 2022

There is no doubt that the pandemic that we are currently going through is a crisis on many levels, but it is also true that research plays a key role in the fight to curb the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the disease.

In this sense, Campus Terra quickly started planting the seeds of a fast, low-cost PCR-based COVID detection R&D project. The NANOFLUIDETEC programme, promoted by a consortium led by AMSlab, employs a team of researchers from the Lugo Campus coordinated by Wajih Al-Soufi, from the unit specialising in Fluorescence of Individual Molecules at the USC. Mercedes Novo, Miguel Ángel González and Enrique Comesaña, professors at the Faculty of Science and the School of Engineering, are also part of this group.

In order to make the development of rapid tests that would contribute to the screening of possible infections possible, the support of the Galician Innovation Agency (GAIN) and the participation of the Lugo laboratory AMSbiopharma and biotech_BFlow are essential.

Thanks to the work of all these parties, the soil that this project grows on is rich in nutrients. It will hopefully flourish into a new COVID virus detection system, based on molecular techniques along with the integration of nanotechnology and microfluidics with automation and potential connectivity for its communication.

To develop this diagnostic device, they will use a technology similar to that of health monitoring systems used by individuals with diabetes to keep track of their glucose levels at home. Thus, it will be built using the knowledge from previous experiences.

The researchers from the USC draw on the experience from at XuvenCiencia and the Fotometrix device, a low-cost mobile photometre suitable for measuring the amount of protein in biological fluids.

Combining the efforts of all the parties involved with the energy of Campus Terra guarantees that the project will be fruitful. The final device could be useful in primary health care centres, assistance centres or residences, as it would allow to obtain test results in a matter of minutes, and would represent huge progress in the ability to increase the diagnostic response capacity to future pandemics or common diseases.