In vitro diagnostics, FHNW School of Life Sciences

In vitro Diagnostics (IVD) are medical products used to diagnose diseases and monitor therapeutic measures, mainly in the central labs of hospitals.

Over the past few years, we have developed several test kits as part of cooperation projects with the diagnostics industry that are used in public and private labs. Applications include detecting knockout drops, screening for a rare disease, regulating vitamin B6, MeTIQ, 8-OH-DG and others.

Point-of-care testing (POCT) is a branch of in vitro diagnostics that allows patients to obtain medical information outside the hospital or doctor’s office. The most well-known application is in monitoring and treating blood sugar in patients suffering from diabetes. Developing a prototype of a patient-friendly lab diagnostic that is linked to the patient’s doctor or hospital requires the integration of competencies from the fields of science, technology, design and social science. The most advanced development is a point-of-care test for determining the blood concentrations of immunosuppressants in patients who have undergone an organ transplant.

The technological development of in vitro diagnostics is progressing rapidly and the demands placed on test systems are high. The FHNW School of Life Sciences has different competencies that it is able to channel into its development projects.