we have extensive interest in our technology from several end-users, including:
- local security services for identifying illicit drugs and explosives;
- the Center for Space Geodesy (CGS) of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) for what concerns the investigation of inorganic materials of interest for energy-storage, mineralogy, archaeology and corrosion sciences;
- medical and diagnostic centers for inspecting enveloped viruses (CoV, IFV, HIV, Ebola, etc.) and how they enter into a host cell to reveal new membrane penetration mechanisms and inhibition processes for antiviral therapies;
- micro-biology laboratories for bio-spectroscopy of proteins;
- electronic industries (for identifying surface strain, defects in microchips and tablet coatings);
- pharmaceutical industries (non-destructive, chemical analysis of tablets, capsules, and other dosage forms).
In addition to that, the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has posed the urgency to develop innovative technologies for reliable, world-scalable and cost-effective diagnostics, therapy and vaccine engineering to tackle infectious diseases. Our THz nanoscope instrument has also the potential to provide conformational characterization with chemical specificity of biomolecular and cellular nanosystems, shedding light on key aspects of metabolism and transmission of pathogens, to complement existing imaging tools and identify new platforms for label-free THz biosensing. As an example, it will provide the broadband spectral coverage combined with the needed resolution to study large viruses like coronaviridae, that have average diameter from 80 to 200 nm. We thus expect huge impact on medical diagnostic.
