About Us

Vigilant Diagnostics LLC, founded in 2014, is developing patented thermal contrast technology that increases the sensitivity of Lateral Flow Assays (LFAs) by 10 to 30 times, allowing for faster and more accurate diagnostic results, with fewer false negatives and false positives.

Lateral flow assays have been used in clinical settings since the development of the pregnancy test in the 1980s. Today, they’re widely used in labs and clinics, and in veterinary, environmental, and field testing. They’re simple and quick to use and require only a small sample amount.

The company’s patented Thermal Contrast Amplification (TCA) technology was developed at the University of Minnesota. It is designed as a platform that can be used to process a variety of existing Lateral Flow Assay products and eventually become a system with its own proprietary LFAs. The company’s products include two “TCA Readers” that can be used in point-of-care settings or with current or next generation LFAs in hospital labs.

Two of the most significant drivers for Vigilant Diagnostics’ technology are 1) the need for early disease diagnosis to initiate on-time treatment procedures, and 2) the growing demand for self-diagnosis. The company focused initially on successfully validating its first TCA Reader on the diseases of Influenza and Malaria, then later expanded to also focus on other infectious diseases, including HIV and COVID-19.

Vigilant Diagnostics’ advanced technology greatly reduces time to diagnosis, as well as brings increased sensitivity, usually found only in laboratory tests, to point-of-care testing for a wide variety of infectious diseases.

The company has raised approximately $1.5 million in equity investment to date, plus $600,000 in non-dilutive research and development grants from U.S. federal and state governmental agencies. Additional grants are expected to be awarded in the near future.

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History & Milestones

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    2012

    Original Paper on TCA Technology Published - (100+ citations)

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2013

    First Worldwide Patent for TCA Technology Submitted

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2013

    NIH Grant for Improved Diagnosis Using Thermal Contrast LFAs

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2014

    Paper Demonstrating TCA Technology With Cryptococcus Patients – (177 citations)

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2014

    U of MN - Mayo Partnership Grant for Improving Malaria Diagnostics

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2014

    Vigilant Diagnostics LLC Founded By Drs. Bischof and Chan

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2014

    Richard Carlson Joins Company As Its First CEO

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2016

    Paper Showing 8-Fold Sensitivity Improvement With TCA Reader for Flu and Malaria – (30+ citations)

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2017

    Paper on Gold Nanoparticle Design Yielding 250-Fold Sensitivity Improvement vs. Visual LFAs – (50+ citations)

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2017

    First Worldwide Patent for TCA Technology Issued - May 2017

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2017

    Industry Leader James Sackrison Joins as Consultant

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2017

    Second Patent, For LFAs Designed Specifically for TCA Reader – Filed May 2017, Published August 2017, Allowed June 2020

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2017

    NIH Grant for Developing Handheld Thermal Contrast Reader

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2020

    Paper in Conjunction with CDC Shows TCA Technology Performs Well Within Range of ELISA Lab Standards

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2020

    James Sackrison Named CTO

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2020

    Board of Directors Expanded

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2020

    NSF Grant for Rapid Development of Two COVID-19 LFAs – May 2020

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2021

    Paper published showing LFAs will soon achieve laboratory testing performance while maintaining their advantages for rapid and large-scale point-of-care use - February 2021

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2021

    Paper published showing that TCA reading improved overall influenza sensitivity by 53% for influenza A and 33% for influenza B over visual RIDTs readings  - March 2021

  • Jul 9, 2020

    2021

    Paper published in “Applied Nano Materials” showing Vigilant’s technology achieves sensitivity overlapping with PCR (laboratory) testing for detection of the spike protein for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID) - December 2021

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