PCR rapid test device for infection diagnostics awarded

Spindiag GmbH, together with the innBW institute Hahn-Schickard and the University of Freiburg, was awarded the Technology transfer award 2020 of the German Physical Society (DPG) for the development of the PCR-based rapid test system Rhonda. The jury credited the successful transfer of results from research on centrifugal microfluidics to the development of a marketable test device. The technology transfer award was postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to the corona pandemic. The award is presented annually by the DPG for a successful technology transfer from a research institute to a company.

Spindiag GmbH was founded in 2016 from Hahn-Schickard and the Institute for Microsystems Technology (IMTEK) at the University of Freiburg. It developed the PCR-based rapid test system Rhonda, which detects viral and bacterial pathogens in under an hour directly at the point of sample collection. The in vitro diagnostic platform is based on centrifugal microfluidics, in which liquids and gases are moved in hair-thin microchannels by rotation. The device has been used as a PCR test device for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in the Corona pandemic since November 2020. Tests for other respiratory pathogens such as influenza A/B are under development.

About Hahn-Schickard:

Hahn-Schickard develops innovative products and technologies for industry in the future fields of mobility, environment and resources, health and care, and information and communication. In addition to competencies in engineering and manufacturing processes, the research and development service provider is a specialist for innovative microfluidic systems as well as for analytical and extraction processes in the fields of nucleic acid analysis, immunoassays and clinical chemistry. Its customers come from industry, mainly small and medium-sized enterprises. 210 employees work at the three sites in Stuttgart, Villingen-Schwenningen and Freiburg.

www.hahn-schickard.de/en/