Integrated LAMP and immunoassay platform for diarrheal disease detection

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Microfluidics
• Point-of-Care Diagnostics

Background:

• Infectious disease diagnosis is challenging, particularly in developing regions with limited resources.
• Existing diagnostic tools often lack portability, ease of use, and the ability to detect diverse pathogens.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a portable, user-friendly diagnostic platform for simultaneous detection of microbial toxins and bacteria at the point-of-care.
• To address the need for rapid and reliable diagnostics in low-resource settings.

Main Methods:

• A centrifugal microfluidic platform integrating ultrasensitive immunoassay and isothermal amplification.
• Utilized a disposable disc with automatic aliquoting, non-contact heating, and precise rotary control.
• Orthogonal detection of protein targets (enterotoxins) and nucleic acid targets (enteric bacteria).

Main Results:

• Achieved high sensitivity for detecting cholera toxin, Staphylococcal enterotoxin B, Shiga-like toxin 1, C. jejuni, E. coli, and S. typhimurium.
• Demonstrated high specificity, even with complex sample matrices like stool.
• Successfully detected a full panel of toxins and bacteria simultaneously in under an hour.

Conclusions:

• The developed platform offers versatile, field-deployable screening capabilities for multiple analyte types.
• This technology can significantly aid in patient care and outbreak triage in diverse settings.
• The platform has the potential to reduce disease impact and expedite effective treatment through rapid diagnostics.