COVID-19 has brought modern life to a standstill. With an approved vaccine still many months away, returning to some semblance of normalcy will depend on widespread testing to inform us who has active COVID-19 and who has the antibodies that indicate immunity.
Need for Real-Time Rapid Point-of-Care COVID-19 Testing
But not all tests are created equal. To save more lives and reduce the burden on our healthcare system, we need point-of-care tests that deliver accurate results rapidly, telling us right away who is positive and who is negative, a challenge that emerging biotech companies are pivoting to embrace.
As tests are being performed, we need this real-time data to quickly reach the cloud, empowering public health institutions, states, cities and other key stakeholders to identify and mitigate emerging hotspots of disease.
COVID-19 Antibody Testing
To truly combat this pandemic, it’s not enough to determine who’s currently ill. We also need to determine who is immune. But with well over 100 different antibody tests in development, and current tests accurate less than 50% of the time, there’s major room for improvement.
Biosensor Manufacturers Partner in Fight Against Viruses
Our human biology is extremely complex, and we need more information on the ways in which our bodies interpret SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. By detecting disease markers in proteins, DNA and RNA, we can use predictive analytics about different populations, to manage preemptively through the course of this disease.
As one of the few U.S.-based manufacturers of the biosensors used in next-generation point-of-care test systems for COVID-19, Rogue Valley Microdevices is demonstrating how expertise in biosensor manufacturing and close collaborative relationships with customers go hand-in-hand in the fight against COVID-19.
For more information, read two interviews with CEO Jessica Gomez by Anne-Françoise Pelé of EE Times and EE Times Europe:
Domestic Goddess: Rogue Valley Micro Demonstrates Its Prowess and What Is It Like to Be a MEMS Foundry CEO Amid Covid-19?