Descrizione del progetto
Uno strumento rivoluzionario per l’individuazione decentrata dei coronavirus
L’attuale pandemia di Covid-19 ha messo in evidenza l’impreparazione dei governi, delle organizzazioni pubbliche e delle comunità ad affrontare e gestire una crisi sanitaria di tale portata. Per molte malattie infettive, l’individuazione tempestiva degli agenti patogeni è fondamentale per l’adozione di misure di contenimento adeguate ad arrestarne la diffusione. Lo scopo del progetto CoNVat, finanziato dall’UE, è quello di sviluppare un approccio biosensivo decentrato per l’identificazione diretta, rapida e specifica del nuovo coronavirus, direttamente all’interno del campione del paziente. La tecnologia generata sarà in grado di differenziare i vari ceppi virali e potrà essere implementata in contesti decentralizzati per migliorare la diagnosi precoce, la sorveglianza e la gestione clinica dei pazienti.
Obiettivo
The recent outbreak in China caused by the emerging nCoV virus is challenging the level of global readiness from governments, public organizations and community to face and manage both its social and health consequences. Once the emergence is recognized and identified, it is crucial to initiate the necessary measures to prevent the spread. This involves therapeutics, vaccines, and devising efficient, fast, readily accessible diagnostics methods that specifically confirm the presence of the virus. Early detection can allow the rapid implementation of containment measures, which are the key to reduce the risk of amplification. The aim of CoNVat is to implement a Point-of-care label free biosensor for the direct, fast and specific identification of nCoV in decentralized settings to improve its early diagnosis and the clinical management of patients. The approach employs an already developed technology based on nanophotonic bimodal waveguide (BiMW) interferometers capable of providing real time, highly sensitive detections assays in short sample turnaround times. We propose two different strategies: (i) the development of a fast antigen-based diagnostic test for the specific detection of the intact virus in patient’s samples such as respiratory specimens and non-respiratory fluids (serum, urine…) to be deployed to clinical settings for initial screening and (ii) development of a multiplexed molecular test, PCR-free, for the reliable identification of nCoV, being possible to differentiate the type and strain of coronavirus form other related or more common respiratory viruses. This latter strategy will provide a disruptive diagnostic tool not only from a clinical perspective to improve patient’s outcome but also for surveillance, to study and understand possible transmission routes of this virus by analysing samples from animal reservoirs. Final prototype validation will demonstrate the potential of this approach for the management of future infectious outbreaks.
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RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinatore
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