Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 8, 2026
Remote Laboratory Management: Respiratory Virus Diagnostics
Published on: April 6, 2019
The MIT D-lab electricity-free PortaTherm™ incubator for remote testing with the QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube assay
1Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, San Martin de Porres, Lima, Peru.
Background:
Use of the QuantiFERON®-TB Gold In-Tube assay (QFT-GIT) in remote areas is limited by the need to incubate blood samples within 12 h of collection. PortaTherm™ is a portable, electricity-free, phase-change incubator previously used for field collection of microbiological samples.
Objective:
To determine whether the PortaTherm can be used for the reliable incubation of QFT-GIT samples, thus enabling QFT-GIT use in settings distant from laboratory facilities.
Methods:
In a prospective comparative study in Peru, blood samples were collected from 50 participants and processed in three parallel QFT-GIT tests per participant; two were incubated in a conventional incubator; the third was incubated in the PortaTherm.
Results:
All 150 QFT-GIT tests gave definitive results, and for 46 of the 50 participants all three tests were concordant, eight of which were positive. Four participants had one discordant result: two due to discordance of a conventional incubator QFT-GIT result, and two due to discordant PortaTherm QFT-GIT results.
Conclusion:
The QFT-GIT inter-incubator variability between the PortaTherm and conventional incubator was no greater than the intra-incubator variability for the conventional incubator, indicating that the PortaTherm is a suitable tool for incubating QFT-GIT whole blood samples in remote settings where access to a laboratory or electricity is limited.
