Info on OvaCyte

Intestinal parasitic infection is a worldwide animal health concern, causing serious issues that can be fatal for the animal, and potentially leading to zoonotic transmission from animals to humans. While common in cats and dogs, parasites affect grazing animals disproportionally, which can have hefty economic repercussions for farmers and agricultural production.

As a result of the prevalence of parasitic infection, faecal egg testing is one of the most frequently performed laboratory tests in veterinary medicine. Until recently, laboratory or in-practice testing using an experienced technician and a microscope was the only way to determine the type and number of parasites in the animal host.

OvaCyte™ is a patent-protected, breakthrough parasite egg recovery platform technology that takes the diagnostic process into the future. OvaCyte™ fulfils the need for a point-of-care automated system that uses digital analysis and artificial intelligence to analyse and detect intestinal parasites in a wide range of host species.

For the first time, OvaCyte™ introduces a complete parasitic analysis at the point-of-care, bringing efficiency, convenience and cost-effective parasitic detection to the veterinarian or farmer. This disruptive technology is currently in use for equine, with further application possibilities for companion animals, bovine, ovine, caprine, porcine, avian and humans as well as in environmental fields.

OvaCyte™’s ease of use is revolutionary. It requires just two minutes of the user’s time to prepare and load, and the rest of the process is fully automated. Using a world-class image reference library, OvaCyte™provides reliable and accurate automated parasite identification and Faecal Egg Count (FEC) in a wide range of parasites, including helminth eggs and oocysts from certain protozoa. The results of the analysis are then delivered direct to the device and web application for seamless interpretation by the user, facilitating targeted treatment.

OvaCyte™‘s technology was founded on over five years of research and development, in collaboration with the University College Dublin’s Department of Parasitology and Department of Engineering, as well as the Irish Centre for High End Computing.