A smartphone powered centrifugal microfluidic platform for point-of-care diagnostics in resource limited settings

• The broad availability of smartphones has provided new opportunities to develop less expensive, portable and integrated point-of-care (POC) platforms. To date, many point-of-care devices have been developed that employ the computing power and the optical sensing capabilities available in smartphones. Here, a platform that consists of three main components is introduced: a portable housing, a centrifugal microfluidic disc and a mobile phone. The mobile phone supplies the electrical power and serves as an analysing system that captures and processes the test images. The housing made from cardboard serves as a platform to conduct tests and ensures the portability and rigidity of the platform while being extremely low-cost. The electrical energy stored in mobile phones was demonstrated to be adequate for spinning a centrifugal disc up to 3000 revolutions per minute (RPM), a rotation speed suitable for majority of centrifugal microfluidics-based bioassays. For controlling the rotational speed without the need for external circuitry, a combination of magnetic and acoustic tachometry using embedded sensors of the mobile phone was used. Experimentally, the smartphone-based tachometry was proven to be comparable with a standard laser-based tachometer. As a proof of concept, two applications were demonstrated using the portable platform: a colorimetric sandwich immunoassay to detect interleukin-2 (IL-2) and a fully automated measurement of hematocrit level integrating blood-plasma separation, imaging and image analysis. The low-cost platform weighing less than 150 grams operated by a mobile phone has the potential to meet the REASSURED criteria for advanced diagnostics in resource limited settings.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinsk bioteknologi -- Medicinsk bioteknologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Medical Biotechnology -- Medical Biotechnology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

centrifugal microfluidic

colorimetry

point-of-care diagnostics

resource limited settings

Biotechnology

Bioteknologi

Publikations- och innehållstyp

vet (ämneskategori)

ovr (ämneskategori)