All it takes is one drop of blood to screen for patients with novel-coronavirus pneumonia but "no obvious symptoms of infection" in less than 15 minutes! By developing high-catalytic nanomaterials and the biomolecular coating technology, the research team led by Associate Professor YANG, HUNG-WEI serving the Institute of Medical Science Technology at the NSYSU created the "Ultra-Sensitive Testing Vial/EasyVial." It is different from the Rapid Test Kit (resembling the Pregnancy Test Kit) currently available on the market, as it significantly reduces the detection time of several hours required by traditional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). It does not require any professional personnel or equipment for testing. With just one drop of whole blood, It can screen out "early symptom-free infections" with only trace amounts of IgM antibodies in the blood in as little as 15 minutes.
 
Detection accuracy has been a concern as the COVID-19 epidemic spreads around the world. False negative and false positive cases have been reported in China, and a 17-year-old patient in South Korea has been found to have tested negative for the virus 12 times in a row, sparking controversy over the accuracy of the test. As indicated by Associate Professor YANG, HUNG-WEI serving the Institute of Medical Science Technology at the NSYSU (also a member of the Rapid Screening Research Center for Toxicology and Biomedicine), clinically, the initial screening of patients is mostly done using a "Pregnancy Test Kit" type of rapid test strip with a sensitivity of 65 ng/mL, which "does not screen the early infections and has a high probability of producing a false-negative result. The team developed the "Ultra-sensitive Testing Vial/EasyVial" with a sensitivity of 0.01 ng/mL, which significantly increases the detection sensitivity by 6,000 times, and it is convenient and time-saving as "there is no need to go to the hospital, and infections can be screened at home quickly."
 
"Rapid screening of early asymptomatic infected persons, and early isolation and treatment can avoid rapid spread of infection." As stressed by Associate Professor YANG, HUNG-WEI, at present, COVID-19 patients need to be confirmed by RT-PCR nucleic acid test after the initial rapid screening, and the results can only be obtained after more than 4 hours of professional operation. Sometimes, this requires repeated testing, and professionals are at greater risk of infection during the collection of upper respiratory tract specimens. "Ultra-sensitive Testing Vial/EasyVial" can be widely used in fast screening of other infectious diseases, such as Zika virus, Dengue virus, Ebola virus, etc. It can be used immediately during specific viral seasons and outbreaks without warning, greatly reducing the pressure on medical examiners and preventing rapid spread of the epidemic. The Global Research & Industry Alliance team is currently assisting Mr. YANG Hung-Wei's research team to add value to their R&D results, apply for patents and conduct market planning. If you are interested in technology, please contact the Global Research & Industry Alliance office at gloria@mail.nsysu.edu.tw.
[Fig.1] By developing high-catalytic nanomaterials and the biomolecular coating technology, the research team led by Associate Professor YANG, HUNG-WEI (4^th from the Left) serving the Institute of Medical Science Technology at the NSYSU created the "Ultra-Sensitive Testing Vial/EasyVial" which is different from the Rapid Test Kit (resembling the Pregnancy Test Kit) currently available on the market.
[Fig.2] The team developed the "Ultra-sensitive Testing Vial/EasyVial" with a sensitivity of 0.01 ng/mL, which significantly increases the detection sensitivity by 6,000 times, and it is convenient and time-saving as "there is no need to go to the hospital, and infections can be screened at home quickly."