Rapid Single-use PCR-based Nucleic Acid Testing

The project objectives include:  

1. Instrument and detection system design which will leverage recent technical breakthroughs to design and build a portable thermocycling instrument.  
   1. This will be achieved by integration of a hardware platform that imposes a prescribed temperature gradient to the PCR reagents using: 
      1. Resistive heating under battery power  
      2. Multi-well PCR tubes that support convective thermocycling and detection 
      3. Fluorescence analysis components 
2. Assay development and validation which will be achieved by quantifying performance characteristics of thermocycling instrument and identify optimal design for protocol development. 
   1. This will involve evaluating a test panel of single- and multiplex amplification reactions to establish performance benchmarks pertinent to cell-based manufacturing, vaccine manufacturing, and diagnostic scenarios.  
   2. This will also establish a framework for optimal primer design and introduce protocols
3. The platform including instrument configuration, user interface, and standardized assay test kits design will be finalized.