These new patents relate to the company’s focus on the development of rapid and easy to use clinical diagnostic products.
The first newly issued patent has broad applicability for molecular diagnostics. The patent identifies an integrated microfluidic system for isolating, amplifying, and detecting DNA or RNA from biological fluids. All processing steps are done within the microfluidic lab-on-a-card format.
The second newly issued patent relates primarily to microfluidic systems for detecting a person’s blood type and Rh status in a sanitary, disposable, credit card-sized device.
In addition, the patent is directed to the placement of dried biological agents and liquid buffers into the microfluidic device. This results in a closed system that permits multiple assay steps to be processed without additional human interaction. Micronics is actively commercializing a device based on this patent for rapid point of care determination of donor blood types.