COVID-19

In less than a month, Sandia National Laboratories converted 100 respiratory machines New Mexico hospitals already had on hand into machines that can safely be used as ventilators to help treat patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Non-invasive ventilators that use masks instead of tubes, BiPAP and CPAP machines, cannot normally be used to treat…

CytoSMART Technologies is to donate 100 mini live-cell imaging systems to researchers in high containment labs worldwide. Labs working to combat COVID-19 will benefit from this initiative, as CytoSMART aims to reduce the huge workload currently facing researchers on projects vital to controlling the disease. “We aim to do our part to assist researchers in minimizing the time…

Sense Biodetection Limited (Sense) has today announced an accelerated program to launch the world’s first instrument-free, point-of-care molecular diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. Sense is partnering closely with Phillips-Medisize, a Molex company and global medical device innovator, developer and manufacturer, to scale-up production of its test in order to…

  The research described in this article has been published on a preprint server but has not yet been peer-reviewed by scientific or medical experts. Every day for the past few weeks, charts and graphs plotting the projected apex of Covid-19 infections have been splashed across newspapers and cable news. Many of these models have…

In the race to identify solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are joining the fight by applying expertise in computational science, advanced manufacturing, data science and neutron science. Research and mission support are proceeding at ORNL, both onsite and as roughly two-thirds of staff members work…

By GLENN ROBERTS JR. X-rays allow researchers to map out the 3D structure of proteins relevant to diseases at the scale of molecules and atoms, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (Berkeley Lab’s) Advanced Light Source (ALS) X-ray facility has been recalled to action to support research related to COVID-19, the coronavirus disease that has already…

Research from R&D tax credit specialists, RIFT Research and Development, has highlighted the impact of COVID-19 in just three and a half short months, based on the funding spend to fight the pandemic compared to other diseases; both where the average annual funding is concerned, as well as total funding into these other diseases over…

BioData is offering a pro-bono program allowing free access to its flagship Labguru electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) to academic laboratories, nonprofit organizations and small start-ups working on COVID-19 treatment or vaccine development, up to a total value of $1M. The offer comes hot on the heels of the LabRoom video conferencing service introduced free of…

Epidemics and disasters require nimble response and specialized expertise. For nearly 20 years, MRIGlobal has been engineering, deploying and staffing modular, portable laboratories for accurate infectious disease detection, surveillance and response. Now, new versions of mobile laboratories are available to address a myriad of biological and chemical threats, with improved features. MRIGlobal’s mobile laboratory product…

The precision diagnostics company BillionToOne announced a significant development in the struggle against the COVID-19 pandemic. BillionToOne has developed a highly accurate and cost-effective novel COVID-19 test protocol, unlocking more than one million testing capacity per day in the United States alone. Test reagents will be available in two weeks, pending manufacturing of kits and…

Horizon Discovery Group, an international company in the application of gene editing and gene modulation for cell line engineering, announces special commercial licensing terms to facilitate rapid access to its cGMP-compliant CHOSOURCE platform for the development or production of therapeutic proteins, diagnostic assay components or vaccines relating to COVID-19. The CHOSOURCE platform includes a gene-edited…

Bardy Diagnostics, a provider of ambulatory cardiac monitoring technologies and custom data solutions, announced that its Carnation Ambulatory Monitor (“CAM”) Patch has been chosen for use in protocols to measure QT Segments in COVID-19 patients who have been prescribed Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ). BardyDx’s CAM Patch will be utilized in newly established protocols at hospitals across the…

By Tom Rickey, PNNL The novel coronavirus sweeping the globe packs 27 proteins, each adopting a unique, often incredibly complex 3D structure. Each protein is part of the molecular toolkit that the virus uses to infect, replicate, and spread. That presents scientists with 27 targets – 27 potential opportunities to stop the virus. Even before…

A team led by MIT researchers and including experts from many institutions is developing a system that augments “manual” contact tracing by public health officials, while preserving the privacy of all individuals. The system relies on short-range Bluetooth signals emitted from people’s smartphones. These signals represent random strings of numbers, likened to “chirps” that other…

Care Access Research, overseeing rapid development and management of high-performing clinical research sites, announced it is leading a validation trial in conjunction with the FDA for a new at-home COVID-19 test developed by a private genomics lab that manufactures DNA screening kits. The goal of this validation study is to evaluate the efficacy of the…

Sandia National Laboratories has announced a new, fast-track licensing program to rapidly deploy technology to a marketplace reeling from the effects of COVID-19. The move is designed to support businesses facing widespread, often technical challenges resulting from the pandemic. “In light of the national emergency, we’re making technology transfer as simple as possible,” said Mary…

Scientists and staff at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) national laboratories are marshalling their expertise, unique facilities, and other key resources in the battle against COVID-19. At Brookhaven National Laboratory: • Research is already underway to better understand key characteristics of the virus that causes COVID-19 and its interactions with human cells, which could…

[Republished from our sister publication, Design World] By Lee Teschler, Executive Editor It looks as though the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may end up strongly suggesting that Americans cover their faces in public until the coronavirus pandemic plays out. The Washington Post reports the recommendations now being floated would call for…

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has begun development of a rapid test for the coronavirus together with MeVac, the joint vaccine research center of the Hospital District of Helsinki and Uusimaa (HUS) and the University of Helsinki. The new testing method is based on detecting the viral antigens of the COVID-19 virus. Once completed,…

Digital Science, a technology company serving emergent needs across the research sector, is pleased to announce a partnership with Beijing-based technology company Zhipu.AI to conduct data challenges and collaborate in building a COVID-19 information portal. Zhipu.AI, a spin-out from Tsinghua University, aims to build an advanced artificial intelligence engine that can support and empower the…

By Catherine Graham In response to a pressing need for more ventilators to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients, a team led by Johns Hopkins University engineers is developing and prototyping a 3D-printed splitter that will allow a single ventilator to treat multiple patients. Though medical professionals have expressed concerns about the safety and effectiveness of…

By Mary Beth Gallagher | Department of Mechanical Engineering The shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) available to health care professionals has become increasingly problematic as COVID-19 cases continue to surge. The sheer volume of PPE needed to keep doctors, nurses, and their patients safe in this crisis is daunting — for example, tens of…

Facing a critical shortage of N95 face masks that block the coronavirus, Duke Health research and clinical teams have confirmed a way to use existing vaporized hydrogen peroxide methods to decontaminate the masks so they can be reused. The process uses specialized equipment to vaporize hydrogen peroxide, which permeates the layers of the mask to…

It took less than a week for the director of the University Kansas Center for Design Research and some of his former students and colleagues to crank out an open-source design for a plastic face shield to help protect health care workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic. In just a few days, it has been freely…

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across the U.S. and the world, Purdue University scientists are working to move solutions to diagnose and treat the virus to the marketplace as soon as possible. The Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialization is working with innovators from across the university to patent and license technologies that focus…