RE: World's first, & thus only, mass screening solution25 Jun 2021 10:06
From Nov 2020, looks like Ireland will be first then?
DeepVerge has commenced deployment of near-source wastewater contamination test equipment ("Microtox PD") into water treatment plants in Ireland.
Microtox PD units, retrofitted with AI based optofluidic pathogen identification scanners, are also being shipped to the University of Aberdeen CAT3 laboratory, adding to the ongoing trials with the live SARS-CoV-2, supplied by Public Health England.
Phase 3 field trials are expected to begin shortly at multiple sites in Northern England. In collaboration with EcoWaterOS consortia partners, aggregated anonymised data will provide datasets for AI model simulations from human volunteers who will undergo COVID-19 testing with a combination of Microtox BT, a lateral flow antigen test and a rt-PCR test. Sufficient datasets are anticipated to be complete early in 2021.
Gerard Brandon, CEO of DeepVerge, Commented:
"Phase 3 field trial testing is the last step to establish permanent anonymised mass surveillance of dangerous pathogens in wastewater, in real-time. The field trials will combine the deployment of Microtox PD wastewater units and daily testing of individual volunteers with a Microtox BT breathalyser test, a lateral flow test and a PCR test. The data from these tests are expected to simultaneously identify the source of COVID-19 cases, identify COVID-19 clusters, and indicate the size of each cluster in real-time. As the data grows, AI will offer the potential to predict the trajectory of growth of future clusters of Sars-CoV-2 or any future dangerous pathogen. As we progress towards commercialisation, PulMoBioMed's patented technology will enable a quick roll-out of our Microtox BT breath test once field trials have completed. We look forward to reporting the results in due course.