Joanna Marie EsperanzaFebruary 6, 2015BSN4A0

A smartphone dongle for diagnosis of infectious diseases at the point of careT. Laksanasopin, T. W. Guo, S. Nayak, A. A. Sridhara, S. Xie, O. O. Olowookere, P. Cadinu, F. Meng, N. H. Chee, J. Kim, C. D. Chin, E. Munyazesa, P. Mugwaneza, A. J. Rai, V. Mugisha, A. R. Castro, D. Steinmiller, V. Linder, J. E. Justman, S. Nsanzimana, S. K. Sia.

AbstractThis 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.

A step-by-step demonstration of a smartphone dongle to diagnose sexually transmitted infections through a fully automated immunoassay.

ReactionAccording to WHO more than 1,000,000 people acquire sexually transmitted infections around the world every day. Syphilis and HIV are among the most common conditions caused by Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). These two are also among the conditions that can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy and childbirth, as well as blood transfusion and tissue transfer. Mother-to-child transmission of STIs can result in stillbirth, neonatal death, low-birth-weight and prematurity, sepsis, pneumonia, neonatal conjunctivitis, and congenital deformities. Syphilis in pregnancy leads to approximately 305 000 fetal and neonatal deaths every year and leaves 215 000 infants at increased risk of dying from prematurity, low-birth-weight or congenital disease. Current diagnostic tests for STIs are only widely available and used in high income countries in contrast to low and middle income countries where it is largely unavailable. Where testing is available it is often expensive and takes a long time to gain results. This leads to deferment of care and treatment. The only inexpensive rapid blood test currently available is for Syphilis where results can be obtained in only 15-20 minutes. Biomedical engineers from Columbia University were able to develop a device that turns a smartphone into a mini lab that could test human blood for HIV and Syphilis. This device is a dongle that attaches to the smartphones audio jack where it will get its power source and requires no separate batteries. An app on the phone will display the result in only 15 minutes,.As for my reaction, this is actually by far the best article I have ever found. Given the information about the number of STI cases around the world, this is progress. Though syphilis is curable, HIV on the other hand isnt. Therefore the best way to reduce the number of cases is prevention. Because if this kind of device will be available commercially, then, sexually active people can buy this and test themselves first to see if one of them has the virus before they commit into sexual acts since the results that it displays is so simple that it doesnt require someone to be on the medical field to actually know what it means. This device according to the researchers shuld cost $34 or about P1500;Each test runs for $1.44 or P66. There are available HIV testing centers here in the Philippines as well as HIV testing kits which around 500 pesos. So I think considering the price, accuracy (93-100% of the time) and convenience, it is worth the deal. Who would choose the risk to be ill of HIV for a lifetime where they can prevent it for just a small amount of money?

References:

Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science. "HIV and syphilis biomarkers: Smartphone, finger prick, 15 minute diagnosis." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 4 February 2015. .T. Laksanasopin, T. W. Guo, S. Nayak, A. A. Sridhara, S. Xie, O. O. Olowookere, P. Cadinu, F. Meng, N. H. Chee, J. Kim, C. D. Chin, E. Munyazesa, P. Mugwaneza, A. J. Rai, V. Mugisha, A. R. Castro, D. Steinmiller, V. Linder, J. E. Justman, S. Nsanzimana, S. K. Sia.A smartphone dongle for diagnosis of infectious diseases at the point of care.Science Translational Medicine, 2015; 7 (273): 273re1 DOI:10.1126/scitranslmed.aaa0056HIV, Syphilis Tests? Theres an App for That. Malaysia IT Fair: Bringing IT Closer to You 2015. http://malaysiaitfair.com.my/?p=14324#more-14324