NEW YORK (360Dx) – UK-based Epigem said Thursday that it is collaborating with Northumbria University to develop a cost-effective, disposable tuberculosis testing kit for developing countries.Â
The entities will engage in a Knowledge Transfer Partnership, managed by the UK government's innovation agency Innovate UK, that provides Epigem with access to experts, research, and data on the Newcastle upon Tyne-based Northumbria University campus.
The collaborating developers will endeavor to build a test kit that uses a minimum amount of electricity, and can still send information from some of the most remote regions of the world.
Tim Ryan, Epigem's managing director, said in a statement that the project will enable integrating electronic components and devices into "a reasonable-size system that is operational, robust, reliable, and cheap."
Epigem’s next generation of products "is challenging and incorporates a set of new technologies requiring leading edge product-design solutions," he said, adding that the system would use biomicrofluidics, molecular diagnostics, microelectronics, computing software, and wireless systems. Â
Ryan noted that Epigem is increasingly involved in developing instrumentation for healthcare, including rapid diagnosis of TB in both humans and animals.