Dr. Jo-Ann Stanton and Team with their Breakthrough Handheld qPCR Device, Freedom4 (IMAGE)
Caption
A revolutionary handheld and battery-powered DNA diagnostic device invented at the University of Otago is poised to become a commonly used field tool for rapidly detecting suspected viruses or bacteria in samples while also determining the level of infection.
The breakthrough device, dubbed Freedom4, takes advantage of a technology called quantitative PCR to identify target DNA sequences in real-time, without the need for further processing.
Developed by Dr. Jo-Ann Stanton's multidisciplinary team at Otago's Department of Anatomy, the sturdy unit weighs the same as a typical laptop and fits on the palm of your hand. Freedom4 boasts a six-hour battery life and can be tethered to a laptop, or connect wirelessly to smart phones or tablets running custom software that analyses and interprets the test results.
Credit
Sharron Bennett
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