QuantuMDx and St George’s University, London are developing Q-POC, a handheld DNA analyser to tackle drug-resistant malaria
QuantuMDx and St George’s University, London's Q-POC
Q-POC can take a sample of blood and run a fully automated diagnostic test for malaria infection, speciation and drug-resistance status in less than 20 minutes.
The battery powered device can be used by the patient’s bedside to help health workers to prescribe the right antimalarial drug.
QuantuMDx chief scientific officer, Jonathan O’Halloran, said: “WHO recommends routine monitoring of drug resistance and cite surveillance as a major challenge to malaria control. They estimate that in 2012, surveillance systems detected just 14% of the estimated global cases.
O’Halloran adds that the diagnosis data retrieved by the device will be sent to the cloud for real-time surveillance.