Infectious diseases, including respiratory infections, pose a significant global health risk, leading to high mortality rates. To combat this pressing issue, there is an urgent need for fast and scalable diagnostic tools for early disease detection. McGill University Professor of Bioengineering, Sara Mahshid, and her lab have made a remarkable breakthrough with the development of QolorEX—an all-in-one detection platform capable of delivering test results in just 13 minutes.

The lack of rapid, large-scale diagnostic tools hampers the effective management of infectious diseases. Timely identification is crucial in implementing necessary interventions and controlling the spread of these diseases.

Existing diagnostic methods are limited in their capabilities, impeding global efforts to combat epidemics. Consequently, there is a critical requirement for an innovative solution that can rapidly and accurately detect infectious diseases, potentially saving numerous lives.

Professor Sara Mahshid's lab at McGill University has revolutionized disease detection with the groundbreaking QolorEX platform. This cutting-edge solution offers unprecedented speed and accuracy in diagnosing infectious diseases.

By leveraging machine learning and state-of-the-art microfluidic devices, QolorEX allows for the analysis of saliva samples, eliminating the need for swabs. Microscopic images of the samples are captured and processed by a dedicated smartphone application using advanced algorithms to decode the data and generate precise test results.

QolorEX's impact extends beyond COVID-19 testing. With a remarkable 95% accuracy rate, comparable to quantitative PCR, this versatile platform can effectively monitor emerging viral infections, variants, and even bacterial diseases.

Its portability, accessibility, and affordability make it ideal for use in resource-limited settings, communal environments, hospitals, schools, and even for at-home testing. By facilitating increased testing volume, QolorEX has the potential to enable early diagnoses, save lives, and significantly curb the global transmission of respiratory diseases.

The breakthrough QolorEX platform emerged from the pioneering research conducted by Professor Sara Mahshid's lab, in collaboration with esteemed Ph.D. candidates Tamer Abdel Fatah and Mahsa Jalali. Their exceptional work and dedication have resulted in the recent publication of a groundbreaking paper in the prestigious journal, Nature Nanotechnology.

Professor Sara Mahshid, a distinguished Canada Research Chair in Nano-Biosensing Devices, expressed her team's commitment to developing portable and cost-effective technologies that deliver practical clinical results. Their collective efforts aim to equip healthcare professionals, individuals, and low-resource settings with the means to effectively combat infectious diseases in the present and future. These remarkable commercial applications and benefits firmly establish QolorEX as an innovative and invaluable asset in the realm of infectious disease diagnosis and management.

The market potential for the QolorEX platform is highly promising. It is expected to attract interest from healthcare providers, governments, and organizations involved in infectious disease management and prevention. The successful publication of a groundbreaking paper in Nature Nanotechnology adds further credibility to the platform, making it an attractive option for investment, partnerships, and commercialization.

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