CAMPTON Diagnostics
The New Age Diagnostics System

Just as the onset of IT has dramatically changed many industries over the years, biotechnology is enhancing the field of medical applications to a great extent. Computer science and microelectronics are enabling new analytical methods that considerably increase efficiency in areas such as pharmaceutical research, diagnosis, and, ultimately, patient care.

CAMPTON Diagnostics is bringing this new age diagnostics by developing complete measuring systems for point-of-care diagnostics combining biotechnological and engineering expertise, which results in an entire analytical platform based on electrical biochips. The company is leveraging its know-how in producing micro-scale chip structures at the highest quality in large numbers.

CAMPTON Diagnostics overcomes the challenges of the current methods of immunological tests such as Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay (ELISA) and Recombinant Immunoblot Assay (RIA). These usually require laboratories, trained personnel, and are time-consuming (hours to days to obtain results). CAMPTON Diagnostics, on the other hand, facilitates the fast and reliable measurement of biomarkers, offers a silicon biochip reader based on a cartridge that functions like a conventional ELISA test, but by electrical read-out.

This system allows the detection of multiple biomarkers concerning infections, cancer, autoimmune, or other diseases from whole blood sample within 7 minutes using an ELISA directly on a gold electrode array. The tests are particularly fast, highly sensitive, and enable the simultaneous measurement of several parameters in one sample.

“Our portable diagnostic device offers a much faster test result at a lower cost, which is very advantageous in the field of medical care,” remarks Jürgen Brink, CEO of CAMPTON Diagnostics. He further adds, “While our competitors often use optical systems to detect diseases, the newly developed CAMPTON technology uses electrical signals.

This means that our technology is more robust and suitable for use in virtually any climate (esp. emerging markets).”

The diagnostic device performs the tests fully automatically in microfluidic single-use cartridges according to internal test protocols. Besides, it comes with integrated controls for calibration, which enhances reproducibility. The system is designed to identify diseases with different biological substances. After a few minutes, the analysis results are shown on the display as a real value. The protocols are test specific like the reagents and the capture molecules on the corresponding biochip, while the device and any other hardware always stay the same. As a result, the usage of CAMPTON’s biochip system is not limited to specific diseases. It is possible to integrate almost any ELISA-based test into the biochip platform as long as disease-specific proteins are present in any type of body fluid. It is also possible to perform DNA tests and protein ELISAs on one system with nearly no change of the hardware.

Our portable diagnostic device offers a much faster test result at a lower cost, which is very advantageous in the field of medical care

The system based on the electrical biochips is extremely shrinkable down to the size of a power bank. It only consists of very compact electronics and disposable cartridges with integrated pumps and ready-to-use reagents. “CAMPTON provides a universal platform with high miniaturization potential and the possibility of simultaneous protein and DNA analysis,” says Lars Blohm, CTO of CAMPTON.

CAMPTON Diagnostics is a spin-off company of the “Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology” (ISIT) in Itzehoe that develops biochips with high reproducibility in its own high-end clean room facility. Together with CAMPTON, the performance of these biochips will be enhanced in the amount of test positions, roughness for the surface increase, and temperature control, for example.

In addition to the further development of the system, CAMPTON Diagnostics plans to develop various tests for different applications with its universal platform technology and is looking for interested partners for collaborative assay development. On the geographical front, CAMPTON Diagnostics aims for a worldwide distribution while focusing on ongoing miniaturization of its point of care systems. Furthermore, the continuous expansion of the test and application portfolio will take place.