Project

Development of a low-cost point-of-care test for Tuberculosis detection

Acronym
Pocket
Code
41V06713
Duration
01 November 2013 → 30 June 2017
Funding
European funding: framework programme, Regional and community funding: Special Research Fund
Research disciplines
  • Natural sciences
    • Scientific computing
    • Bioinformatics and computational biology
  • Medical and health sciences
    • Bioinformatics and computational biology
    • Bioinformatics and computational biology
    • Public health care
    • Public health services
    • Bioinformatics and computational biology
  • Engineering and technology
    • Scientific computing
Keywords
tuberculosis detection
 
Project description

Pocket will develop a novel point-of-care (PoC) urine test for the detection of tuberculosis (TB), achieving at the same time a low cost (5 to 10 euro end-user cost per test, including depreciation cost of the instrument) and a high accuracy (>80% capture of TB-positive patients, which is much better than the present solutions which reach 60%). The test positions itself between current low-end immunological urine tests with limited accuracy and between high-end expensive nucleio-acid-based tests, which are not truly point-of-care. Throughout this project, special attention will be paid to both end-user requirements (performance, cost, ease-of-use, ...) and to manufacturability. Pocket will go well beyond the development of a mere laboratory prototype, as in the final year of the project, the instrument will be field-tested in Africa and India