Dragonfly
Dragonfly is a portable, rapid and highly accurate solution for detecting multiple pathogens simultaneously.
Designed for point-of-care use, Dragonfly eliminates the need for bulky lab equipment, making it ideal for low-resource settings, remote areas and emergency responses.
Key features
- Ultra-fast results (under 20 minutes)
- No specialist equipment or training required
- High sensitivity and specificity
- Flexible testing for multiple pathogens, including COVID-19, Influenza A/B, RSV, mpox and more
- Smartphone integration for automated result analysis
Read the latest paper in Nature Communications.
Developed at Imperial with support from the Jameel Fund
Dragonfly was developed at Imperial College London and in 2021 the research team was awarded a grant by the Jameel Fund for Infectious Disease Research and Innovation.
Originally developed for COVID-19 screening, the grant from the Jameel Fund helped the team expand Dragonfly to detect other respiratory viruses.
Three of the Imperial researchers behind Dragonfly – Jesus Rodriguez Manzano, Pantelis Georgiou and Nicolas Moser – co-founded ProtonDx, a spin-out company that is commercialising the technology.
About the Jameel Fund
The Jameel Fund ran from 2021 to 2023 and supported short-term, high-impact projects that advanced understanding, prevention, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases.
Across two rounds, 25 grants were awarded to researchers at Imperial and at King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia.
Arctic: Extreme cold, reliable results
In August 2024, infectious disease specialist Major Scott Pallett embarked on a 250 km unsupported Arctic expedition, 600 km north of the Arctic Circle, to test Dragonfly in -35°C temperatures.
Results:
- Successfully detected Influenza A in extreme conditions
- Confirmed portability and robustness in one of the world's harshest environments
Dragonfly delivers reliable results in the world's harshest conditions. I'm confident this kit could cope with any environment.
Zambia: Diagnostics for low-resource settings
In late 2024, Dragonfly was deployed in Zambia as part of the Livingstone revisited expedition, a mission to improve healthcare in remote communities.
Key outcomes:
- Demonstrated ease of use in low-resource clinics
- Enabled rapid, accurate diagnosis without lab infrastructure
- Supported antimicrobial stewardship by reducing misdiagnosis
ProtonDx's highly portable technology can provide rapid and accurate diagnosis of multiple pathogens in the harshest environments.
The success in Zambia has led to plans for further deployment in sub-Saharan Africa, with findings to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.