With lockdowns and a slow vaccination rollout continuing to disrupt the lives of Australians, a homegrown rapid COVID-19 test is about to head into clinical trials.
Research led by University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Distinguished Professor Dayong Jin on nanophotonics is behind the antigen-detecting invention. The technology has a range of potential uses, but the team switched its focus to COVID-19 research last year when the pandemic started reshaping the world.
The new test is being commercialised as a hand-held analyser under the name “Virulizer” by the testing company Alcolizer, which is based in Balcatta, Western Australia. The technology is based on “upconversion nanoparticles”, which have biosensing, diagnostic and other medical applications.
According to Alcolizer Senior Scientist Dr Olga Shimoni, who left UTS to join the company in April, these fluorescent nanoparticles are unique in that, because they produce a high signal to noise, they don’t have background fluorescence. She said that the nanoparticles are used in conjunction with lateral flow tests, which have a long history in home pregnancy tests.
“They are already a well-established technology that can be synthesised and produced at UTS, and now at Alcolizer as well,” she said.
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