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Quantitative detection of dengue serotypes using a smartphone-connected handheld lab-on-chip platform
Nicolas Moser1, Ling-Shan Yu2, Jesus Rodriguez Manzano1,3
1Centre for Bio-Inspired Technology, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
|October 3, 2022
Summary
A new smartphone-connected diagnostic platform enables rapid, quantitative detection of dengue virus serotypes. This portable Lab-on-Chip device offers accurate dengue diagnosis at the point of care, crucial for disease surveillance.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Medical Diagnostics
- Infectious Disease Research
Background:
- Dengue virus (DENV) is a major global health concern, necessitating rapid and accurate diagnostic tools.
- Current dengue diagnostics often lack the required sensitivity, specificity, or portability for widespread use.
- Existing methods may rely on large laboratory equipment, limiting their application in resource-limited settings.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a smartphone-connected, handheld Lab-on-Chip (LoC) platform for quantitative dengue virus detection.
- To assess the diagnostic performance of the LoC platform against gold-standard methods.
- To demonstrate the platform's potential for real-time epidemiological surveillance and point-of-care applications.
Main Methods:
- Integration of Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) microchip technology with 78 × 56 potentiometric sensors.
- Utilisation of a label-free reverse-transcriptase loop mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay for dengue serotype detection.
- Development of a smartphone application for real-time data synchronisation with a secure cloud server for epidemiological surveillance.
Main Results:
- The LoC platform (RT-eLAMP) demonstrated comparable performance to a gold-standard fluorescence-based real-time instrument (RT-qLAMP).
- Quantitative detection of dengue serotypes 1 and 2 was achieved using synthetic RNA and clinical isolates.
- The assay provided accurate dengue diagnosis in under 15 minutes.
- Platform portability and geo-tagging capabilities were validated in international laboratory settings.
Conclusions:
- The smartphone-connected LoC platform offers a rapid, accurate, and portable solution for dengue virus diagnostics.
- This technology has significant potential for point-of-care testing in resource-limited settings.
- The integrated cloud-based surveillance system facilitates real-time epidemiological monitoring of dengue outbreaks.
