Overview
- Northwestern adapted its DASH rapid PCR system, originally built for COVID-19, to detect hepatitis C from whole blood at the point of care.
- The Journal of Infectious Diseases published the study describing a 15-minute runtime and detection across all six major HCV genotypes.
- Reported performance in the study included approximately 99% sensitivity and 100% accuracy compared with commercial laboratory tests.
- Johns Hopkins independently tested 97 clinical specimens and found 100% agreement with standard diagnostic platforms.
- Current FDA-cleared point-of-care HCV testing requires 40–60 minutes and lab-based pathways often add days or weeks, which can prevent timely treatment starts.