PCR lab-on-chip system for rapid and sensitive identification of SARS-CoV-2 infected case

There is an urgent call for development of fast and sensitive diagnostic tools for early and on-site detection of infected individuals for containment of the current COVID-19 outbreak. These tools should also require minimal training procedures so that personnel with different backgrounds can run them on-site and get accurate data in short periods of time. In response to this need, here through an interdisciplinary research we aim to develop a novel, portable PCR lab-on-chip system to detect infected individuals with SARS-CoV-2 (in replacement of sending samples to specific labs for analysis, which may take days). It is noteworthy that the cost of the tests via the proposed system is estimated to be about $3/test, i.e. significantly lower than current detection methods. For the new tool, we are proposing to use self-collecting, non-invasive saliva sampling, which can be achieved even at individuals’ homes.

Faculty Supervisor:

Sepideh Pakpour;Mina Hoorfar

Student:

Sahar Alousi;Bahram Talebjedi

Partner:

Walsh Foundation

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Program: