Technology
Vivacta's patented piezofilm detection technology takes advantage of the piezoelectric effect, whereby the detection of molecular-scale mechanical or temperature perturbations at the surface of the piezofilm produces an electric charge. Vivacta's sensor measures this charge to determine the rate of binding between an antibody immobilised on the surface of a piezofilm layer and the target analyte.

The sensor offers the following benefits:

• Sensitive, precise and fully quantitative results:
  Approaching the sensitivity and precision generated by laboratory platforms- meaning the platform can be adapted for use with most analytes normally handled by a central lab.
• Works on whole blood:
  By selecting LED wavelengths that have minimal absorption by red cells, analytes can be accurately detected without the need for a cell-separation step.
• Minimal sample volumes:
  The first product requires only 30µL of whole blood - readily available from a finger prick.
• Simple and cost-effective - ideal for Point-of-Care use:
  The whole system can be packaged into a small, self-contained strip or cartridge with all reagents dried down.
• On the spot diagnosis within minutes:
  Results can be reported in 5–10 minutes since the test automatically detects when sufficient data has been collected, rather than waiting for an endpoint to the reaction, as in the case of lateral flow tests.