A Welsh MedTech firm has developed a companion app for a Covid-19 test that could soon help governments and health agencies manage and control the coronavirus pandemic.
Cardiff-based Bond Digital Health is part of a global consortium that is producing a rapid diagnostic test for Covid-19.
The antigen test, produced by Canadian company Sona Nanotech, uses a nasal swab to provide a result in 15 minutes without the use of laboratory equipment or a reader system.
The test can be used as a tool to identify patients infected with the virus and聽is currently being assessed for approval by the US Government鈥檚 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Health Canada for emergency use authorisation.
Bond developed an end-to-end system with a mobile app for test users and a web dashboard providing geo-mapped data analytics for health agencies.
The system, called Sona Connect, is powered by Bond鈥檚 Transform technology.
Launched this month on the Google Play store, it allows users to capture the result and upload it along with a photo of the test and relevant epidemiological information like age and underlying health conditions.
This creates a digital record that is sent to a secure cloud for reference and analysis. In the web dashboard, relevant stakeholders can view and share the information and use it to map test results, monitor the spread and ultimately manage the outbreak.
Phil Groom, Commercial Director of Bond Digital Health, said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 taken months of hard work from our team to deliver the first real-world application of our Transform鈩� technology in the market for an infectious disease.
鈥淲e鈥檙e proud that our technology will supercharge Sona Nanotech鈥檚 Covid-19 rapid antigen test with a user friendly, real-time data platform that will help us all return to normality safely and confidently.
鈥淭his is the first of many lateral flow tests that we are making better with data.鈥�
Darren Rowles, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Sona Nanotech, added: 鈥淪ona Connect, powered by Bond鈥檚 Transform technology, adds value and functionality to Sona鈥檚 test across diagnostic, surveillance and reassurance testing use case scenarios, helping authorities detect, manage and control the spread of this outbreak.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been impressed at how quickly Bond has created this platform for us and at the quality of the final product, and we look forward to continuing our productive partnership.鈥�
Earlier this year Bond was awarded more than 拢200,000 in government grants to help it develop Transform – 拢177,979 from the Welsh Government and 拢49,796 from Innovate UK, the UK鈥檚 national innovation agency.