A new robot can process up to 20,000 pcr tests per 24-hour period for SARS-CoV-2. This is significantly faster than any other device known so far for this purpose.
The robot is called STRIP-1 and has been purchased by the Dutch government. It is a Dutch invention developed by Hubrecht Institute, part of the KNAW, and biotech company Genmab. STRIP-1 was produced in Switzerland and realised by the central government. The intention is that the robot can be used not only during the current COVID-19 pandemic, but also in any subsequent pandemics.
Mapping spread
The government calls the testing and analysis facilities in the Netherlands "very high-quality, but also small-scale and primarily focused on diagnostics". In practice, this means that the facilities are primarily set up to determine whether someone is infected or not. In a pandemic, however, it is also very important to be able to quickly map the spread of the virus. This enables a targeted approach with measures where the outbreak flares up.
Being able to test samples quickly and accurately in high volumes is an important part of such an approach. The government has therefore been investing in expanding testing and analysis capacity in the Netherlands for some time. The test robot STRIP-1 is part of that strategy.
Besides higher test speeds - allowing larger quantities of tests to be performed - the test robot also significantly reduces the cost per test. This without compromising the quality of the analysis performed.
Validation
The STRIP-1 was installed in Veldhoven shortly before Christmas. At present, the robot is being validated. This involves the robot analysing more and more tests step by step, preparing it for large-scale deployment. The validation process - supervised by RIVM and GGD Zuid-Oost Brabant - is expected to be completed by mid-February. After completion, the robot can be deployed at full power. The government is considering purchasing more copies of the test robot if the validation yields the expected results.
Health, Welfare and Sport Minister Hugo de Jonge view the robot with his own eyes on 27 January. De Jonge: "This is really a promising new step in the fight against the corona pandemic. It is wonderful that companies and institutes from the Netherlands have managed to pull this off and we from the government have also been happy to cooperate. All signs indicate that we can successfully deploy this robot. The STRIP1 can be an important additional link in large-scale testing, which is necessary in a pandemic."
Improve testing capacity
The robot was developed by a series of researchers who, during the first lockdown in April 2020, felt the need to improve the then very limited testing capacity. Using their expertise in molecular biology, they wanted to optimise the test. This was an initiative by Marvin Tanenbaum and Wouter de Laat, which was joined by dozens of researchers.
"While talking, we realised that the gold standard, the PCR test, works super well, and that the biggest problem was logistics," says De Laat. Back then, test lines worked with relatively large volumes of test liquids and many operations had to be performed by people. This limited the number of tests that could be analysed in a given time. De Laat: "By robotising the whole thing, we hoped to organise everything much faster and smarter. So we committed to that very early on."
Adapting the entire chain
Through an acquaintance of one of the researchers, they came into contact with Martijn Bosch, the automation specialist at biotech company Genmab. Bosch: "The challenge was not only to develop a robotic system, but also to adapt the whole chain. From sample collection and logistics, to the test itself and reporting, actually the whole process from patient to test and back again, that was the big challenge." In time, this caused more and more parties to become involved in the project. These included diagnostic laboratories, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport and teaching hospitals. Tanenbaum: "Everyone worked on this completely selflessly. Everyone did it alongside their regular work, was incredibly busy, and yet everyone felt this was so important to put in an enormous amount of time."
With financial support from the Oncode Institute, the robot was eventually ordered from Swiss company TECAN, which undertook production. The robot was installed at the PAMM medical microbiology laboratory in Veldhoven shortly before Christmas.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
