RADetect
One Platform- Multiple biomarker detection of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
A project of the Inno Indigo call „Diagnostics and interventions in chronic communicable diseases“
One Platform- Multiple biomarker detection of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
A project of the Inno Indigo call „Diagnostics and interventions in chronic communicable diseases“
April 2017
Project RADetect presented on EXPO-PCT
EXPO-FCT is an open day event for the general public and prospective students to visit FCT/UNL and connect with the Academy, getting acquainted with curricula and involved with ongoing research Projects. This year, a focus was on BioNanotechnology and namely on the use of gold nanoparticles for colorimetric (plasmic) diagnostics of human diseases. Starting from the basic concepts, visitors were presented with the goals of RA Detect and a short demonstration of the color changes of a gold nanoparticle solution, which is at the basis of the detection platform.
Summer 2016
Project „RADetect - One Platform- Multiple biomarker detection of Rheumatoid Arthritis“ starts.
November 20, 2015
The project proposal RADetect was selected for the second round in the Inno Indigo Partnership Programme call „Diagnostics and interventions in chronic non-communicable diseases“
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, progressive disorder leading to joint inflammation and pain in the feet, hands, and wrists commonly affecting the ages between 30 and 60. The majority of the people having the disease do not have a family history of the disease. This autoimmune disease -if gone undetected- leads to cartilage damage resulting in reduced joint spacing between bones. While certain joints are affected by the disease, also other body systems like cardiovascular and respiratory systems can be damaged.
Studies have been conducted to identify the biomarkers for rheumatoid arthritis including the rheumatoid factor anticyclic citrullinated peptide. But there is no ‘one size fits all’ as some of these markers may be present even before the start of the symptoms disease progression or may not be present at all in the patients. Therefore it is of critical significance for a validated diagnosis that all the biomarkers can be detected at the same time
This proposal aims to develop a novel, single platform for high throughput screening of the known definitive, predictive and prognostic markers of rheumatoid arthritis.
