Technology
Vivacta’s piezofilm technology platform exploits the piezoelectric effect by which thermal perturbations on a piezofilm surface produce an electric charge. The measuring of this electric charge across the piezofilm enables monitoring of chemical activity – or rate of binding between antibody and analyte – in an assay.

This innovative technology platform has enabled Vivacta to develop a new generation of near-patient diagnostic products able to achieve very high sensitivity and wide dynamic range, equivalent to laboratory testing. Each diagnostic test utilises whole blood samples and requires only a finger prick sample, providing actionable results within 10 minutes.

Vivacta’s technology platform can be used to measure tiny amounts of medically relevant small and large molecules and nucleic acids in the bloodstream and other bodily fluids. Potential applications include diagnosis of endocrine and hormonal imbalances, infections, sepsis, stroke and cardiac status. Tests developed using the Vivacta system may also be used as companion diagnostics, for therapeutic drug monitoring, determination of vaccination status and for therapeutic effectiveness monitoring including the detection of anti-drug antibodies, as well as other personalised medicine applications.

Vivacta's piezofilm technology platform offers the following benefits:

• Sensitive, precise and fully quantitative results:
  Achieving the sensitivity and precision normally associated with large laboratory analyzers, Vivacta’s compact system can be adapted for use with most analytes normally tested in hospitals or central (hospital) laboratories
• Works on whole blood:
  Vivacta’s system involves illuminating samples with flashes of light emitted from diodes. By selecting light-emitting diode (LED) wavelengths which have minimal absorption by red cells, the Vivacta system enables accurate detection of analytes without the need for a cell-separation step
• Minimal sample volumes:
  Diagnostic tests developed by Vivacta require only 30µL of whole blood - readily available from a finger prick
• Simple and cost-effective - ideal for Point-of-Care use:
  Vivacta’s diagnostic sensor is packaged into a small, self-contained cartridge with all reagents dried down; the cartridge also acts as a blood-collection device
• On the spot diagnosis within minutes:
  Results are provided in less than 10 minutes – the time required by the automatic desktop reader to detect when sufficient data has been collected (no requirement, as in the case of lateral flow tests for an endpoint to the immunoassay reaction)