In 2018, he became CEO of miDiagnostics.ĭr Susana Zanello has 25 years’ experience in biomedical research and 12 years supporting human spaceflight research. He served as the company’s Vice President for Innovations, responsible for bringing novel technologies and assay concepts to the market. ‘We are very excited that our technology has been selected by Imec to demonstrate its operation during parabolic flights.’ Zanello adds, with notable pride: ‘This is a very exciting process and a good example of how Imec and miDiagnostics work together to bring diagnostics to the most remote places, both on Earth and in space.’īioscience engineer Nicolas Vergauwe joined molecular diagnostics firm Biocartis in 2012 after gaining his PhD at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, in collaboration with the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) at Lausanne, Switzerland. ‘The first tests were positive and now we are going to develop it further’, says Vergauwe. This process must then be adapted for each country, which have their own requirements, conditions, and guidelines for approval. Tests are carried out in collaboration with universities, such as John Hopkins, to ensure sufficient sensitivity and specificity of the test. MiDiagnostics hopes to market the device for use within three to four years. Human exploration in deep space, such as travel to Mars, requires the development of medical devices and the diagnostics of small mass, volume and power requirements, designed for a more autonomous practice of medicine.’ Susana Zanello comments: ‘This technology demonstration is intended to meet NASA’s need for technologies that support human exploration and further commercial activities, both in orbit and beyond. During parabolic test flights, a team consisting of Imec and miDiagnostic will check the operation of the test cards combined with microgravity to evaluate the correct functioning and robustness of the subcomponents. Imec received a grant from NASA to use miDiagnostics’ technology as a first test in a zero-gravity environment. The miDiagnostics device, on the other hand, is capable of detecting various pathogens, such as bacteria or viruses, with one drop of blood, and thus offers a syndromic panel test.ĭr Susana Zanello is R&D Manager for Space Health at Imecīecause capillary forces overcome gravity, NASA sees enormous potential for application in space. They are easy to use, however, only one specific pathogen is tested. Many existing rapid tests are based on the detection of antigens of a specific virus or bacterium. Using a needle, a few drops of blood are applied to a test card, which will be inserted into a device. If we could provide diagnostic tools of this kind there, people on the spot can take the initiative and start treatment themselves.’ We had to build a whole infrastructure with our Western instruments. ‘I was in Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak. With our device, you could specifically check for the presence of the virus.’Īnother application is use in countries where healthcare is not readily available. ‘You can screen people by measuring temperature, but there can be many reasons for having a higher temperature. Look at the current situation with the coronavirus. We can roll it out even further and apply it at airports, for example. ‘With our device, the blood test can also be performed at home. The actual therapy can often be done at home, but for the blood test, patients need to go to hospital. For each new cycle, it must first be assessed whether the body has recovered sufficiently. It can also be used for patients undergoing chemotherapy. Our device enables blood analysis during the consultation, so infections can be distinguished without delay and treatment adjusted accordingly.
Since the information is not available during a consultation, doctors will often prescribe antibiotics to a patient with a possible viral or bacterial infection – this often turns out to be unjustified. ‘Usually, blood analysis takes at least a day because the blood must be examined in a laboratory.
0 kommentar(er)
