[vc_row][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1526992091759{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]Last week Sona Nanotech was invited to exhibit at the Lateral Flow Workshop 2018 in Zaragoza, Spain.
The annual event, organized by Spanish diagnostics firm Operon and US-based equipment manufacturers BioDot, aims to educate and inform on all things lateral flow, from the basics to the latest trends.
The workshop contained some excellent advice on the process of creating lateral flow assays.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_video link=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkGB4k9UyFA”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=”.vc_custom_1526994894447{margin-bottom: 0px !important;}”]GE Healthcare’s Klaus Hochleitner, who has been working on membrane-based detection and analysis systems for more than 30 years, warned that there were many things to consider and even more things that could potentially go wrong, at every stage of the process.
He summed up by advising delegates not to try to “reinvent the wheel” when creating a rapid test, and to not be afraid to seek assistance from suppliers when running into problems.
In his talk, Ahmed Jehanli of Soma BioScience said that “to develop lateral flow tests, you must keep both your mind and options open”.
Soma develops and sells its own quantitative lateral flow assays, many of which use salivary biomarkers, and has worked with top sporting organizations including Premier League football clubs and Formula One teams.
Mr. Jehanli also urged delegates to not be afraid to try new things, saying they should “avoid adherence to pre-conceived concepts” and to understand that “the trial and error approach can have advantages”.
From Sona’s point of view, the workshop was the ideal opportunity to showcase our unique gold nanorod technology to delegates from across the world, as well as to make vital connections that will lead to future collaborations and partnerships.
On the technology front, we had a lot of interest in the potential of our gold nanorods in point of care diagnostic testing, particularly their use in multiplexed devices that can detect multiple diseases in one test.
This is made possible because of their unique shape and the fact they are manufactured in multiple sizes, giving them distinct optical properties that allow for a number of different colours, something which is not possible with traditional spherical gold nanoparticles.
Some delegates were surprised at this as they had assumed, or been wrongly informed, that such results were not possible with gold.
In terms of connections, we agreed to form partnerships with several companies and organizations to use our nanorods to develop proof of concepts and new tests to bring to the market together.
We also made agreements with developers and producers of lateral flow materials to work together to help customers bring new lateral flow tests to market.
For me, that was one of the stand-out conclusions of the workshop – that there are many small companies out there, each with their own specialties, that can make a real impact on the market by pooling their technologies and expertise.
The message I would like to get out is that customers might be tempted to work with large firms that offer ‘end to end solutions’ in lateral flow, but they are just as likely to achieve their aims by working with a group of smaller companies who are cooperating in this way.
If you would like to work with Sona Nanotech or learn more about our products, email: darren@sonanano.com[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]