Rapid and widespread COVID-19 testing is both essential for controlling the outbreak and challenging, especially in rural areas where access to testing supplies and facilities can be limited. Potentially infected individuals put their lives on hold waiting longer than they should for test results—delays that put them and others in the community at risk. In hospitals, doctors must wait for test results to determine if they can safely perform surgeries, and this turnaround time affects patient care.
Driven by his quest to solve the COVID-19 testing bottleneck at the Indiana Regional Medical Center (IRMC) and in the surrounding community of Indiana, PA, Chair of the Department of Biology at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) Dr. Narayanaswamy Bharathan developed a new in-house extractionless protocol using PrimeDirect Probe RT-qPCR Mix for fast, inexpensive COVID-19 testing of crude samples.
Hear how Takara Bio USA’s collaboration with Dr. Bharathan at IUP and with IRMC enables better and faster testing for rural communities.
When the conventional RNA extraction approach wasn't cutting it—lengthening turnaround time and limiting the capacity of COVID-19 testing at Indiana Regional Medical Center—Dr. Bharathan, chair of the Department of Biology at IUP, and his lab stepped up to develop a fast, sensitive extractionless protocol using Takara Bio's PrimeDirect Probe mix.
When his lab was looking for the best method to detect SARS-CoV-2 in unpurified samples, they chose PrimeDirect Probe mix, as it saved time and provided comparable sensitivity to purified samples.
PrimeDirect Probe mix, which was incorporated into his lab's testing protocol, was the key to reducing hands-on time and greatly increasing the number of samples processed per day.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana Regional Medical Center, and Takara Bio USA teamed up to tackle the challenge of providing faster, cheaper, and more reliable COVID-19 testing—an accomplishment that will be transferred to other underserved communities.
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Overcoming roadblocks in the test development process to improve rural hospital COVID-19 testing (5 min)
When the conventional RNA extraction approach wasn't cutting it—lengthening turnaround time and limiting the capacity of COVID-19 testing at Indiana Regional Medical Center—Dr. Bharathan, chair of the Department of Biology at IUP, and his lab stepped up to develop a fast, sensitive extractionless protocol using Takara Bio's PrimeDirect Probe mix.
Validating detection of SARS-CoV-2 in purified vs. crude nasopharyngeal samples (2 min)
When his lab was looking for the best method to detect SARS-CoV-2 in unpurified samples, they chose PrimeDirect Probe mix, as it saved time and provided comparable sensitivity to purified samples.
Increasing the in-house daily COVID-19 testing capacity while preserving specificity and sensitivity (2 min)
PrimeDirect Probe mix, which was incorporated into his lab's testing protocol, was the key to reducing hands-on time and greatly increasing the number of samples processed per day.
Partnering is key to solving challenges in rural community COVID-19 testing (5 min)
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana Regional Medical Center, and Takara Bio USA teamed up to tackle the challenge of providing faster, cheaper, and more reliable COVID-19 testing—an accomplishment that will be transferred to other underserved communities.
