PCR and DNA Technologies
The FDA has fast-tracked Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of Molecular-Based Laboratory Developed Tests for COVID-19 detection. These are essential tools for research and disease surveillance efforts, and will provide important platforms for future contagion detection kit development. Researchers have developed a portable COVID-19 microfluidics-based PCR diagnostic system – called Epidax – that enables rapid and accurate on-site screening of infectious diseases and significantly reduces the time required to analyse patient samples.

Masks and Safety Equipment
The design and accessibility of protective masks and containment equipment provide valuable barriers to infectivity and disease spread. This equipment continues to be important aspects of first-line public preparedness in the onset of an outbreak. There are 24 Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) products and 17 ventilators with EUA approval from the FDA. Experts from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed an alternative to traditional N95 masks, made from sterilizable materials and known as the Injection Molded Autoclavable, Scalable, Conformable (iMASC) system.