We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Rapid Molecular Diagnostic Platform Sends Precise COVID-19 RNA Results to Smartphone in Minutes

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 05 Mar 2021

Image: Rapid Molecular Diagnostic Platform Sends Precise COVID-19 RNA Results to Smartphone in Minutes (Photo courtesy of Purdue University/Chris Adam)

Image: Rapid Molecular Diagnostic Platform Sends Precise COVID-19 RNA Results to Smartphone in Minutes (Photo courtesy of Purdue University/Chris Adam)

An all new technology can detect COVID-19 RNA in saliva through newly developed electronic nanosensors, which significantly reduces error rates associated with chemical-based home tests.

IdentifySensors Biologics (Cleveland, OH, USA), a nanosensor technology firm which has developed the rapid diagnostic platform for detecting pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, has now joined the SMART Film Consortium, led by the Birck Nanotechnology Center at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN, USA) that seeks to develop the first foundry dedicated to low-cost non-silicon printed sensors.

Unlike other molecular tests for COVID-19, the rapid molecular diagnostic platform automatically transmits test results to consumer smartphones and to the proper health agencies in minutes. The platform technology can be easily modified to also detect influenza, Zika, dengue, HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C, Lyme disease, mumps, measles, chickenpox and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and foodborne pathogens.

"By joining the SMART Film Consortium, IdentifySensors Biologics has positioned itself in a significantly strategic vantage point where it is able to tap into a wide array of printing and scalable manufacturing resources in the Birck Nanotechnology Center to greatly accelerate the development of their COVID-19 sensor," said Thomas Sors, assistant director of the Purdue Institute of Inflammation, Immunology and Infectious Disease.

Related Links:
IdentifySensors Biologics
Purdue Research Foundation

Visit expo >

Gold Member

12-Channel ECG

CM1200B

Hand-held Hemoglobin Analyzer
DiaSpect Tm

Rapid Sepsis Test

SeptiCyte RAPID

Breast Imaging Monitor

Barco Coronis Onelook MDMC-32133 32MP

Latest COVID-19 News

Channels

Artificial Intelligence

view channel

Image: Coach Mpilo is a free, confidential health care coach available through WhatsApp. (Image Credit: Alastair Van Heerden / Wits University)

AI Tool Prioritizes Peer Referrals to Expand HIV Testing Access

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a major public health challenge when people at risk lack timely testing and care. In South Africa, men and adolescents are among those less likely to seek testing... Read more

Explainable AI Dermoscopy Tool Supports Risk Assessment for Skin Cancer

Skin lesions can be difficult to triage when benign and malignant findings share visual features, leaving clinicians uncertain about whether to recommend biopsy or continued monitoring. These decisions... Read more

AI Model Improves Breast Cancer Survival Prediction

Predicting survival in breast cancer can be challenging because outcomes are influenced by a combination of clinical, biological, and genetic factors. Traditional survival models can estimate risk but... Read more

$Image: Mass General Brigham researchers developed two AI tools from one foundation model (called FAHR-Face) that can estimate biological age and predict cancer survival outcomes from a single face photo. The image on the left depicts the features most important to FAHR-FaceSurvival\'s predictions of cancer survival outcomes, while the image on the right shows the features most important to FAHR-FaceAge\'s estimates of biological age. Areas shown in yellow had the greatest influence on each model\'s predictions. (Photo courtesy of Mass General Brigham/Lancet Digital Health)$

AI Tool Predicts Cancer Survival and Biological Age from Single Facial Photo

Assessing frailty and physiologic reserve remains challenging when clinicians consider intensive cancer treatment. Chronological age alone may not reflect how well a patient can tolerate radiation, surgery,... Read more

Critical Care

view channel

Chest Digital Twin Guides Light Therapy Dosing for Pneumonia

Pneumonia is a lung infection that can impair gas exchange and progress to severe respiratory compromise. Light-based therapies may help treat infection or inflammation, but externally applied light must... Read more

Intraoperative Drug Combination Reduces Kidney Injury in Septic Shock Surgery

Septic shock is a life-threatening response to infection that can cause circulatory failure and organ injury, with global mortality rates reaching 50%. Although emergency surgery can clear the underlying... Read more

Image: Electron microscopic image of the catalyst: The spherical structures resemble desert roses and consist of tiny gold platelets “dusted” with platinum particles. (Image: Debasis Maity, Biotechnology and Bioengineering Group / ETH Zurich)

Wirelessly Powered Implant Targets Excess Glucose in the Blood

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder that is becoming increasingly common worldwide. It is often associated with obesity, sedentary behavior, and prolonged excess energy intake.... Read more

U.S. Launch Expands Kidney Replacement Therapy Options With Integrated Anticoagulation

Critically ill patients with acute kidney injury often require continuous kidney replacement therapy in intensive care units. During these extracorporeal treatments, careful anticoagulation management... Read more

Surgical Techniques

view channel

Illustration of the Hēlo Thrombectomy System device (Photo courtesty of Endovascular Engineering)

FDA-Cleared Thrombectomy System Removes Pulmonary Embolism Clots

Pulmonary embolism occurs when blood clots travel to the lungs and block blood flow, potentially requiring urgent endovascular intervention to prevent death. Catheter-based clot removal can be challenging,... Read more

Image: The LUCID prototype, which combines a miniature ultrasound device with a fluid-delivery tube, an osmotic pump and custom electronics. A coin provides a sense of scale. The system is designed to deliver substances directly into brain tissue and uses ultrasound to help them spread. (Photo courtesy of MIT)

Implantable Ultrasound Device Enhances Local Drug Delivery in Glioblastoma

Glioblastoma is an aggressive brain tumor that frequently recurs after surgery. Although surgeons can remove visible tumor tissue, residual cancer cells may remain in surrounding brain tissue and contribute... Read more

Miniature Image Sensor Enables Digital Imaging in Single-Use Endoscopes

Disposable single-use endoscopes are increasingly used to help reduce infection risk and the burden of post-procedure reprocessing and equipment management. As insertion sections become thinner, endoscopic... Read more

Image: Half-matched bone marrow transplant expands access to curative treatment for children and young adults with severe aplastic anemia. (Photo courtes of Margarita Dionysiou using Bio Render)

Half-Matched Family Donors Could Expand Transplant Access for Severe Aplastic Anemia

Severe aplastic anemia is a rare, life-threatening disorder in which the bone marrow fails to produce enough healthy blood cells, leaving children and young adults vulnerable to anemia, infection, and bleeding.... Read more

Patient Care

view channel

Expert Review Outlines Diagnosis and Treatment of Recurrent Catheter Infections

Patients who rely on long-term intravenous catheters for chemotherapy, hemodialysis, intravenous nutrition, and other essential therapies remain at risk of catheter-related bloodstream infections.... Read more

Total-Body PET/CT Scanner Enables One-Minute Diagnostic-Quality Cancer Imaging

Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) combines radiotracer-based functional imaging with anatomical detail to diagnose, stage, and monitor cancer. Conventional scanners image the body... Read more

AI Platform Personalizes Support Between Visits for Cancer Survivors

Cancer survivors often manage persistent side effects after treatment, including fatigue, anxiety, uncertainty, symptoms, stress, and questions between appointments. Clinical teams need ways to maintain... Read more

At-Home Neuromodulation Shows Promise in Selected Patients With Hypertension

High blood pressure is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, including heart attack and stroke. Many patients receiving treatment for hypertension still remain above recommended blood pressure... Read more

Medical Imaging

view channel

AI Approach Improves Brain MRI Lesion Detection in Epilepsy and Multiple Sclerosis

Drug-resistant epilepsy can require precise lesion localization before surgery, yet some affected patients have brain MRI scans that appear negative to physicians. Multiple sclerosis also depends on MRI... Read more

Image: Longitudinal trajectories of body composition from −36 months to 0 months for PDAC cases and matched controls: (A) Skeletal muscle index, (B) subcutaneous fat index and (C) visceral fat index. (Bogdanski AM, Klatte DCF, van Hooft JE, et al. Longitudinal body composition changes distinguish pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma from controls in a pre-diagnostic CT cohort. Pancreatology. 2026. doi:10.1016/j.pan.2026.09.00)

Routine CT Body Composition Tool Helps Identify Early Pancreatic Cancer Risk

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the most common type of pancreatic cancer, often goes undetected until it has spread. Surveillance programs primarily target people with inherited genetic risk... Read more

Image: An MRI scan of a fetal brain (outlined in yellow) in the sagittal position. E(3)-Pose is a model that helps track movement in an MRI of the fetus’s brain. The model could help clinicians make earlier and more accurate diagnoses of developmental anomalies. (Image Credit: MIT Jameel Clinic and the researchers)

AI Tool Improves Fetal MRI for Brain Abnormality Diagnosis

Fetal brain abnormalities can be difficult to diagnose before birth when fetal motion reduces imaging quality. Routine ultrasound may flag a possible abnormality, prompting follow-up fetal MRI, but head... Read more

AI Model Detects Hidden Disease Signals in Routine CT Scans

Computed tomography (CT) scans are often performed to answer a specific diagnostic question, which can leave other potentially important findings outside the immediate clinical focus. As a result, opportunities... Read more

Health IT

view channel

Clinical Decision Support Tool Automates CKD Risk Assessment in Primary Care

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) requires timely diagnosis, risk assessment, and coordinated treatment in primary care. Delayed recognition can affect decisions about testing, blood pressure control, cardiovascular... Read more

EHR Alerts Support Dosing, Sedation, and Shock Recognition in Cardiac Care

Electronic health record alerts can add to clinician workload when they are poorly targeted. In critical cardiac care, however, delayed decisions can affect treatment timing, sedation exposure, and escalation... Read more

Adaptive Radiation QA Software Gains Validation for NeoArc Treatments

Adaptive radiation therapy allows clinicians to adjust treatment plans to daily anatomical changes such as tumor shrinkage, weight loss, or organ movement, improving precision while limiting exposure to... Read more

Healthcare Database Helps Close Long COVID Surveillance Gap

Long COVID is a chronic condition that occurs after SARS-CoV-2 infection and lasts at least three months. It can follow severe illness, but it can also affect anyone who has been infected.... Read more

Point of Care

view channel

Continuous Glucose Monitoring Identifies Cardiometabolic Risk in Adults Without Diabetes

Dysglycemia—abnormal blood glucose regulation—can fluctuate throughout the day and often escape conventional screening. Clinicians typically rely on fasting plasma glucose and hemoglobin A1c, which offer... Read more

Image: Schematic illustration depicting MOF-encapsulated microneedle biosensing versus conventional blood draw-based diagnosis and monitoring of acute kidney injury. (Yixuan Wang et al., Advanced Materials, 2026. DOI: 10.1002/adma.74423)

Microneedle Patch Enables At-Home Monitoring of Acute Kidney Injury

Kidney disease is often silent in its early stages, making timely detection difficult outside clinical settings. Early biomarkers such as neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin can require blood draws... Read more

Image: A phase object modeled as a thin, pure phase transmission mask is illuminated with horizontally polarized light at two different wavelengths (Haiwei Wang et al., Nanophotonics (2026). DOI: 10.1002/nap2.70190)

Ultrathin Metasurface Could Bring Quantitative Phase Imaging to Portable Devices

Point-of-care imaging often depends on bulky optical systems that have difficulty visualizing nearly transparent cells and tissues without staining. These limitations can slow diagnosis and restrict use... Read more

Rapid Onsite Testing Reduces Emergency Department Transfers in Long-Term Care

Respiratory infections in long-term care residents frequently trigger emergency department transfers that strain hospital capacity and expose frail patients to additional risks. Turnaround delays from... Read more

Business

view channel

Steris to Expand Surgical Safety Portfolio With $2.1 Billion Xodus Medical Deal

Steris has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Xodus Medical, a specialty surgical products business based in Pennsylvania, for $2.1 billion at closing. The acquisition will expand Steris’s healthcare... Read more

Stryker Enters Soft-Tissue Robotics Through Strategic Alliance With CMR Surgical

Stryker (Portage, MI, USA) and CMR Surgical (Cambridge, UK) have announced a strategic alliance centered on the Versius Surgical Robotic portfolio. The agreement includes an approximately USD 400 million... Read more

Terumo Neuro Acquisition Advances Liquid Embolic Technology for Chronic Subdural Hematoma

Terumo Neuro (Aliso Viejo, CA, USA) signed an agreement to acquire Arsenal Medical Inc. (Waltham, MA, USA), a privately held, clinical-stage biomaterials company. The proposed acquisition would add NeoCast,... Read more

World Health Expo to Showcase Trillion-Dollar Growth Across Pharma, Biotech, Longevity and Wellness at 2027 Edition

World Health Expo (WHX) expands with the new Pharma, Biotech, Longevity and Wellness industry sectors More than 235,000 professional visits, over 4,200 exhibitors and representatives from over... Read more