Engineering Nanorod–Wax Metamaterials to Enable Scalable, Microfluidics-Free Molecular Diagnostics

Rapid and accurate diagnosis of infectious diseases is essential to saving lives, reducing pressure on healthcare systems and slowing the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Yet today, many patients still wait hours or days for diagnostic results, particularly outside hospital laboratories. This delay contributes to unnecessary hospital admissions, inappropriate antibiotic use and avoidable healthcare costs, placing growing strain on the NHS and health systems worldwide.

This project addresses a hidden barrier preventing rapid molecular diagnostics from being widely used at the point of care: the materials and manufacturing complexity of disposable diagnostic cartridges. Current molecular tests depend on intricate microfluidic components that are expensive to manufacture, difficult to scale and prone to failure. These constraints drive up costs and limit deployment in urgent care, community healthcare and low-resource settings.

Rapidx Bio is developing a new approach that removes much of this complexity. Its diagnostic platform avoids traditional microfluidics by using light-based heating and simple phase-change materials to control reactions directly from raw samples. This offers a pathway to faster, lower-cost and more deployable molecular tests. However, existing phase-change materials introduce their own limitations, particularly in how reliably they respond to light-based heating.

This project will develop a new class of advanced phase-change materials, created by embedding carefully designed nanoscale metal structures within a wax matrix. These materials behave as metamaterials, meaning their properties arise from their internal structure rather than their bulk composition. By engineering how heat moves through the material at the nanoscale, the project aims to achieve more uniform, controllable and repeatable behaviour than is possible with conventional materials.

The work brings together Rapidx Bio and UK-based materials company Metalchemy, building on an established collaboration. The project will design, manufacture and test these new materials, and demonstrate how they can be integrated into diagnostic cartridges. The focus is on feasibility and manufacturability, ensuring the materials can be produced reliably and used in real diagnostic systems.

If successful, the project will enable more affordable, scalable molecular diagnostics that can be used closer to patients, supporting faster clinical decisions and better antibiotic stewardship. Beyond healthcare, the materials developed may also have applications in veterinary diagnostics and other small-scale systems that rely on precise thermal control.

By translating advanced materials research into a practical, manufacturable solution, this project supports the UK's ambition to lead in materials innovation while delivering real benefits for public health and healthcare sustainability.