Biological Threat Detection Technology

Collaborating with government agencies in the USA and UK in the field of biological threat detection, Kromek is working towards the common goal of improving the early detection of biological threats anytime and anywhere, making the world safer and healthier.

Minimising the impact of pathogen-initiated outbreaks, whether naturally occurring or intentional biological attacks, depends on our ability to detect and identify the causative agent, in order to diagnose, properly triage and treat those infected, and gauge the extent and dynamics of an outbreak. If we want to continuously protect the world from highly contagious, natural, mutating and engineered, biological threats, we need to have fast actionable intelligence through early warning portable systems to make those informed decisions.

Therefore, at Kromek, our revolutionary integrated environmental monitoring systems allow early detection of any biological threat across large areas and can inform appropriate and timely responses to a potential threat. For instance, we are developing a novel fully automated and autonomous biosensing system that detects the presence of airborne or waterborne pathogens (viral and bacterial) based on long read sequencing. This ‘lab in a box’ requires minimal user interaction, allowing in-field analysis of suspicious samples with results rapidly available to troops and other responders from a standalone device or multiple within a monitoring network.

Illustration of a coronavirus strain (SARS-CoV-2)

Our innovations in biothreat detection technology are opening the doors to detection outside of certified BSL 2 laboratories. The technology is simple to deploy and use and inherently scalable, operating autonomously with the best-in-class technologies you need for air sampling, biological testing and data management.

The Covid-19 pandemic caused extreme disruption of the entire economy and threatened to overwhelm the health systems of countries worldwide. Kromek Biological Threat Detection Technology such as the KAPscan-AT provides the ability to act, react, and make better decisions in terms of public health and national security.

KAPscan-AT launched as the world’s first SARS-CoV-2 detector using automated air sampling, processing, and a targeted molecular assay. This indoor air quality monitoring device supports clean air for a safer and healthier world, combining top quality air sampling, sample concentration, sample clean up, amplification and targeted detection via Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), with the latter being the ‘gold standard’ in infectious disease diagnostics.

 

 

All the information you could need

The progress of our Biological detection projects has been presented and discussed at several scientific conferences, and insights into the current state of biothreat management delivered in our technical publications.

Related Products