Development of the early immune response assay in saliva

The current coronavirus outbreak highlights the importance of point-of-care (POC) rapid screening tools to identify and understand COVID-19 spread within the population. As countries work on flattening the disease curve, it is anticipated that billions of COVID-19 tests will be required for the next 12-24 months. Also, it is widely understood that the next pandemic will not be a matter of “if” but rather a matter of “when”. To address this urgent need, we have partnered with Sensoreal Inc., a Montreal-based biotech company, to develop a rapid multiplex test based on their proprietary microfluidic liquid-handling technology. The envisioned product consists of a customizable, analyzer, and disposable microfluidic cartridge. Such a highly flexible liquid handling platform miniaturizes and automates existing laboratory procedures suitable for the broad range of rapid testing kit applications. This innovation will allow fast responses to future epidemics using similar technology to enable a global strategy that prevents an out of control pandemic.

Faculty Supervisor:

Mohsen Akbari

Student:

Zhina Hadisi

Partner:

Sensoreal Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering - mechanical

Sector:

University:

University of Victoria

Program: