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A smartphone dongle for diagnosis of infectious diseases at the point of care.
- Source :
-
Science translational medicine [Sci Transl Med] 2015 Feb 04; Vol. 7 (273), pp. 273re1. - Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- This work demonstrates that a full laboratory-quality immunoassay can be run on a smartphone accessory. This low-cost dongle replicates all mechanical, optical, and electronic functions of a laboratory-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) without requiring any stored energy; all necessary power is drawn from a smartphone. Rwandan health care workers used the dongle to test whole blood obtained via fingerprick from 96 patients enrolling into care at prevention of mother-to-child transmission clinics or voluntary counseling and testing centers. The dongle performed a triplexed immunoassay not currently available in a single test format: HIV antibody, treponemal-specific antibody for syphilis, and nontreponemal antibody for active syphilis infection. In a blinded experiment, health care workers obtained diagnostic results in 15 min from our triplex test that rivaled the gold standard of laboratory-based HIV ELISA and rapid plasma reagin (a screening test for syphilis), with sensitivity of 92 to 100% and specificity of 79 to 100%, consistent with needs of current clinical algorithms. Patient preference for the dongle was 97% compared to laboratory-based tests, with most pointing to the convenience of obtaining quick results with a single fingerprick. This work suggests that coupling microfluidics with recent advances in consumer electronics can make certain laboratory-based diagnostics accessible to almost any population with access to smartphones.<br /> (Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.)
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1946-6242
- Volume :
- 7
- Issue :
- 273
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Science translational medicine
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 25653222
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1126/scitranslmed.aaa0056