Nanoparticle-based technology speeds up diagnoses

This year’s Finnish Engineering Award was granted to Juhani Luotola (M.Sc) from Orion Diagnostica for his work on applying nanoparticle technology to development of diagnostic test systems. The Award of €20,000 was granted by the Finnish Association of Graduate Engineers (TEK) and its Swedish-speaking counterpart, Tekniska Föreningen i Finland (TFIF), on 28 May 2009 in Helsinki.

The QuikRead system developed by Luotola can determine the concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP), which plays an important role in inflammatory diseases, in as little as one minute. The test result helps physicians to make a diagnosis and decide on proper treatment when assessing whether the patient is suffering from a viral or bacterial infection and whether a course of antibiotics is required.

In other words, the QuikRead CRP test contributes to avoiding unnecessary courses of antibiotics and consequently hinders the development of bacterial strains resistant to antibiotics. In addition to CRP, the system can be used to detect occult blood in faeces and Strep A, which causes pharyngitis, as well as to determine albumin in urine.

In addition to the technical merits, Luotola's award-winning work illustrates and provides concrete examples of the role played by technology in health care and medicine.


Additional information:

Juhani Luotola, Senior Technology Manager, Orion Diagnostica
tel. +358 50 966 2983

Pekka Pellinen, Director, The Finnish Association of Graduate Engineers TEK, Technology & Society, tel. +358 40 521 9424

The Finnish Engineering Award is presented annually to an individual or group, whose work has considerably advanced technical competence in Finland. The rewarded engineering work is characterised by creative input, originality and practical implementation of an idea or theory. Business and economic aspects are also taken into consideration. The first Engineering Award was granted in 1981.

Read the press release here

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