Innovative Diagnostics

Rapid diagnostics are needed to guide treatments, support clinical management and reduce inappropriate antimicrobial use. Real-time infection mapping is essential to identify and monitor outbreaks, which is particularly important in regions where surveillance data and laboratory access is limited. We have developed an innovative diagnostic platform based on semiconductor microchip technology, which provides a low cost, scalable, rapid and portable solution. Quantitative test results are provided on a smartphone application in under 20 minutes and synchronised to a cloud server for real-time tracking of disease progression and surveillance.

We are harnessing emerging innovations in machine learning and artificial intelligence to increase the throughput of molecular diagnostic platforms without any hardware changes. The methods we are developing leverage machine learning approaches to distinguish a nucleic acid amplification reaction based on its molecular signatures (i.e. kinetic and thermodynamic information). This gives rise to affordable solutions for detecting infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistances by simply increasing the outputs of existing data without changing the PCR technologies themselves.

We are specialised in a broad range of amplification chemistries and methods, including assay design, assay validation and sample testing. The assay development is supported by our extensive expertise in bioinformatics. Applications include absolute quantification, SNP genotyping and high-level multiplexing assays with a strong experience in quantitative real-time PCR (probe and dye-based), isothermal amplification (e.g. LAMP and RPA) and state-of-the art digital PCR.