Funded through a partnership between the NFMRI and the NSW Department of Primary Industries from 2015 -2017.
Professor Haswell’s project focuses on the design, manufacture and commercialization of a cost- effective lab-on-a-chip device that can rapidly identify the presence of infection and the causative virus from a range of existing possibilities. The analytical chip, which will cost less than $20, will take less than an hour to generate results and will be able to be linked wirelessly to a database to produce a range of control and treatment options, including vaccine-specific selections, where appropriate.
This project has progressed well, with a fully operational controller chip having been developed and working. The project has reached a technology ready level of 6 and is currently able to detect samples in around 75 minutes, which the team is confident that with modification and further chip optimization this could be reduced to less than 60 minutes. Professor Haswell and his team carried out the work in close collaboration with both end users (NSW DPI and AAHL) and technology providers to ensure the technology is both fit for purpose and commercially available.
The control system of this technology has been constructed to be operated in conjunction with a smart phone, but will require the development of a special purpose app. Once complete, it will help minimize the spread of infection and will enable better disease management strategies to be developed.
