HomeLAMP demonstrates the design and prototyping of a low-cost thermal processing unit for COVID-19 RT-LAMP testing and diagnostics entirely within the home, as well as other possibilities for low-cost, widely-distributed home testing solutions.
From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US until the end of April, 5.5 million tests were performed in total [via the Covid Tracking Project]. In order to re-open the economy and allow safe re-entry into public life, testing will need to scale up by orders of magnitude, to reach between 1 and 10 million tests per week [various sources].
HomeLAMP seeks to test whether simple tests that are performed in centralized commercial lab settings can be modified to work at home, at a lower cost and with fewer logistical challenges such as packaging, stabilizing, safe transport, handling, and processing.
This project is in development and is currently in early prototyping processes; we are currently working to validate the stability of our results against those of commercial lab testing.