Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) researchers are collaborating with Soroka University Medical Centre and Clalit Health Services in Israel on the first use of a combinatorial pooling method for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing.
This new single-stage diagnostic test will help prevent the spread of the disease by identifying infected people sooner and at a lower cost using significantly fewer tests. The test successfully identifies all positive patients and asymptomatic carriers in a single round of testing. While some labs pool samples that combine the RNA from several people as a single sample, they must retest each individual to determine which ones are positive. This new method eliminates the need for the second step.
鈥淥ur method is the only process now available to deliver the level of mass testing that countries are currently aiming for in order to control outbreaks,鈥� says BGU鈥檚 Prof. Tomer Hertz, of the Shraga Segal Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Genetics. Prof Hertz is also the co-founder of Poold Diagnostics, which has been contracted to provide the test at Soroka and at the Clalit HMO central laboratory in Tel Aviv.
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鈥淲e鈥檝e already successfully tested 40,000 samples in Israel during the first two weeks of clinical operation,鈥� says Prof. Hertz.
PCR-tests (polymerase chain reaction) are used to detect RNA in many types of genetic material and is widely-used to test for SARS-CoV-2. In this case, a diagnostic, a combinatorial pooling algorithm, uses compressed sensing for efficient SARS-CoV-2 testing. It was developed by researchers at BGU, the National Institute for Biotechnology in the Negev (NIBN), The Open University of Israel (OUI), and Soroka.
Prof. Hertz says that introducing the Poold method at Soroka鈥檚 lab will quadruple the current capacity of 2,000 samples a day with minimal increase in staffing and virtually no increase in materials required. The Poold Diagnostics team is preparing to provide its technology internationally. It could ultimately be used at schools, airports and major events, as well as in large diagnostic laboratories.
鈥淲e鈥檙e pleased to see how quickly Ben-Gurion University researchers鈥� lifesaving, breakthrough technology has been implemented into laboratories where testing takes place,鈥� says Doug Seserman, chief executive officer of American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. 鈥淚t鈥檚 wonderful to see these innovative tests being widely used in Israel and I hope we have it soon in the United States as well.鈥�
