Lab-on-a-chip Gives Avian Flu Results in Less Than an Hour

STMicroelectronics and Veredus Laboratories are developing a fast, point-of-need diagnostic test that will enable health practitioners to quickly detect strains of Avian Flu and other influenza viruses. The diagnostic, which uses reliable and inexpensive equipment, produces results within approximately one hour of testing.

Using STMicroelectronics’ well-characterized In-Check ™ platform, Veredus is developing an application to specifically identify whether a patient is infected with the Avian Flu (H5N1) or a subtype of Influenza A or B in a single test, instead of requiring many tests, as needed currently.

The assay is being built on STMicroelectronics’ In-Check platform, a complete laboratory on a chip. The platform allows users to accurately and reliably perform the complex processing and analysis of a minute sample on a single disposable chip, dramatically reducing the time and complexity of the instrumentation needed.

In addition, this self-contained lab-on-chip approach reduces the risk of cross-contamination inherent in conventional analysis methods. Results are detected by a dedicated portable reader using optical signal acquisition and processed by ST’s specialized bioinformatics software, which can be installed on any PC. Veredus expects the application, running on ST’s In-Check platform, to be commercially available to health care providers in the fall of this year.

All of In-Check's core biochemical functionality is enabled by, and on board, a Silicon chip which has been processed using standard silicon-chip manufacturing. As a result, the In-Check Lab-on-Chip benefits from the enormous economies of scale that have been realized by the semiconductor industry.