Presented by
Stephen Devlin
Nominated by
Swansea University
Trovinos, a spin out from Swansea University, is a low-cost, diagnostic device which can detect infection in urine or saliva. It uses a sensor based on a nanomaterial, which enables the sensor to have a very large surface area and therefore have high sensitivity. But unlike other nanotechnology sensors, it can be mass-produced at relatively low cost (e.g. about $1-$2 per biosensor), using a completely novel printing-assisted fabrication technique. This makes it commercially viable and highly attractive for large-scale screening, especially in less developed countries experiencing disease epidemics, where speed, ease of use and cost are paramount.
The unique and revolutionary aspect is our innovative use of roll printing technology to manufacture large volumes of nanotextured material at very low cost. Nanoscale structures allow biosensors to have very high sensitivity (due to the increased surface area) while still remaining small. But their use in commercial applications has been limited due to the cost and difficulty of the traditional approach to manufacturing them.