Born to Design: The Disposable Rapid Diagnostic Test for Ebola

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The 2014 Ebola epidemic was the largest in history, affecting multiple countries in West Africa and killing over 11,000 people. The Center of Disease Control and its partners worldwide are working to prevent future outbreaks, but these efforts are easier said than done.

Prevention in developing nations most prone to outbreaks is difficult. These areas often lack resources most of us generally take for granted, such as clean water, electricity and refrigeration. While difficult, solutions are not impossible. Breakthroughs imagined by medical non-profit Diagnostics for All is proof.

In order to successfully treat patients with Ebola, the virus must be diagnosed very quickly. One of the reasons behind the 2014 epidemic was the difficulty in providing a quick and effective virus diagnosis. Recognizing the need for a diagnostic tool that would work in developing countries that lack electricity, clear water and refrigeration, the designers at Diagnostics for All used SOLIDWORKS to develop an easy-to-use, portable, and cost-effective solution.

The company saw SOLIDWORKS as the ideal solution to enable its designers to design all of the product’s electronics and packaging, combine them with chemistries needed for the test kit and packing them in a small, portable test kit. The company’s disposable rapid diagnostic test product enables healthcare workers to test for Ebola in the harshest of conditions, saving untold number of lives in the process.

 

To learn more about medical device design and overcoming regulatory and time constraints, check out our life sciences page to read white papers, see ProNova’s cancer-killing cyclotron in action, hear from customers and learn how you can bring your next medical breakthrough to market in record time.

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Barb Schmitz

Barb Schmitz

Senior Marketing Communications Manager at SolidWorks
Barb Schmitz is a Senior Manager in Marketing Communications with BA in Journalism and over 30 years of experience in the CAD software industry. She started her career as a journalist covering technology and served as an editor for several leading industry publications for over 20 years. Besides being a sleuth of tech, she is a loyal dog owner, travel bum, mom, lover of hoppy IPAs, red wine, and alternative music lover living in the great city of Chicago.