Just 15 minutes for HIV, Syphilis….
We can now turn any
smartphone (whether iPhones or Android devices) into an HIV and syphilis
tester. Wonder how? Here is the answer… The plastic
attachment, about the size of the phone itself, uses disposable cartridges to
load blood and the device’s app reads the results, giving a diagnosis in
about 15 minutes. The device, called “dongle”, can be attached to any smart
phone or tablet through the audio jack. This is the first low-cost dongle that 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… This low-weight device is capable of simultaneously detecting HIV
antibody, treponemal-specific antibody for syphilis and nontreponemal antibody
for active syphilis in a single format....
So
these are the steps: - plug the dongle in and take a blood sample with the
prick of a finger. Insert the sample into a disposable plastic collector
(cartridges) and connect the collector to a microfluidic chip which analyses
the sample. Next, insert the chip with the blood sample into the dongle, open
the app, wait about 15 minutes and you have your results.
Let’s see what’s happening… The blood
sample mixes with chemicals called reagents in micro scale channels within the
cartridge. Gold nanoparticles bind to antibodies, and silver nanoparticles form
a film around the gold particles. This silver film blocks light shined through
the finished sample, indicating the test result within 15 minutes. The result
is automatically loaded into the phone’s storage.
For more details please click to the link
As usual expecting your valuable comments..............
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