At the TEDMED 2014 Conference, QuantuMDX Group announced the successful production of their first fully-integrated sample-to result working prototype of Q-POC™, a handheld lab that delivers a DNA-based medical diagnosis in minutes. The device is due for commercialization in 2016.
CEO Elaine Warburton OBE www.quantumdx.com said, “It felt right to announce the prototype at TEDMED since many said that our vision for Q-POC was impossible, and yet here we are with a fully integrated working prototype.”
Q-POC is expected to put the power of genetic testing into the hands of frontline health workers around the world. When networked, these devices will feed anonymized disease data into the connected world called the Internet of Life™, to find out how to manage and monitor diseases that encompass pandemic prevention and antibiotic resistance.
Q-POC inventor Jonathan O’Halloran jonathan.ohalloran@quantumdx.com said, “The internet revolutionized how we share knowledge and this is changing how we interact with everyday objects. The Internet of Life will transform how we monitor and manage disease.”
Thousands of Q-POC devices will use anonymized disease data to create an early warning system to not only help prevent pandemics but also to contain and manage drug resistance. With genetic data at their fingertips, frontline health workers will be able to provide personalized healthcare everywhere.
To run a DNA analyses using Q-POC, health workers will insert a sample, input patient data, and press go. In 15 minutes a health worker will receive a diagnostic result. Public health officials will have the information they need to mobilize the right resources to the right place at the right time and researchers will be better equipped to monitor the efficacy of a disease intervention.