Amplification-free Viral RNA Detection using Gii-Sens, a Pure 3D Graphene Foam

Author: Sean Lightheart

Project: Amplification-free Viral RNA Detection using Gii-Sens, a Pure 3D Graphene Foam

Project Collaborators: Integrated Graphene Ltd COVID-19

Business Led Innovation in Response to Global Disruption Round 2

Project Duration: 6 months

Funding Award Body: Innovate UK

Project Summary: Integrated Graphene’s revolutionary pure 3D Graphene Foam sensing electrode, Gii-Sens, has the properties to enable the development of the world's most sensitive biosensor.

Gii-Sens enables amplification-free, label-free and enzyme-free detection.

Project Background

Since December 2019, the CoVid-19 pandemic has spread from its epicentre in Wuhan, China to infect over 42 million people worldwide and has redefined life as we know it.

Pathogen infections are responsible for thousands of deaths and an enormous contributing factor of morbidity worldwide and therefore, they are considered as a major concern for global health. Despite the availability of antibiotics and antiviral therapies, bacterial and viral infections are often misdiagnosed or diagnosed with an unacceptable delay as it is generally difficult to diagnose the difference between the two initially. This has led to the prescription of, broad-spectrum antibiotics, and then if the infection continues, they move to antiviral treatment. However, this is an outdated practice which doctors worldwide are trying to reduce. The accurate and early identification of the pathogen using simple, fast and affordable diagnostic tests is crucial for effective treatment and control.

The requirement for faster, more reliable and commercially scalable diagnostics

Given the severity and mass disruptive force of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is of paramount importance that PoC testing can be utilised to expedite its detection. The ISCF highlights that medical diagnostic testing needs to be available at the point of need, at low cost. Established COVID-testing technologies usually take hours or even days to provide results to the patient and often require expensive equipment operated by laboratory professionals where bottle necks in processing samples can occur, resulting in long patient waiting times. Utilising a graphene-based biosensor will enable a faster detection process at the point of need as well as creating a solution with the capability to be scaled en masse.

Gii-Sense enabling the development of the world's most sensitive biosensor.

For decades industry has been trying to move laboratory sensitivity tests into the point of need, to reduce time to results so medical professionals to act on an accurate diagnosis. Gii-Sens, uses the properties of a very large electrochemically active surface area, high conductivity and a pure surface of 3D graphene foam to enable cost-effective disposable POC devices to be developed with laboratory LoDs using amplification free, label-free and enzyme-free electrochemical biosensors / L-O-C methods.

Gii-Sens is ideally suited to the creation of novel graphene-based electrochemical biosensors to be established for a diverse range of bioassays, from simple molecules to complex biotargets and enabling low cost multiplexed and quantitative assays to be developed.

It is our vision that this technology enables viral testing everywhere like glucose home testing is now; the creation of effective diagnostic tools for simple detection with an immediate sample-to-answer turnaround. This process can be and needs to be replicated to many other diseases.

Learning Outcomes and the future of testing

Upon the completion of this projection, Integrated Graphene is hoping to map out an improved route to cost-effective diagnostic test at the point of need, without the need for highly expensive lab analysers. Such a test would have significant potential to demonstrate a new generation of carbon-based electroanalytical sensors with world-beating performance.

By showcasing the benefits of Gii-Sens within this carbon-based electroanalytical sensors it opens the question of; what other targets of interest could be translated from the lab to the point of need?

For more information on this project or any of the technologies or services mentioned above, please contact us.