Smartphone-driven centrifugal microfluidics for diagnostics in resource limited settings

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Point-of-Care Diagnostics
• Mobile Health Technology

Background:

• Smartphones offer potential for developing affordable, portable point-of-care (POC) diagnostic platforms.
• Existing POC technologies often face limitations in cost, portability, and integration.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a novel, low-cost, smartphone-integrated centrifugal microfluidic platform for POC diagnostics.
• To demonstrate the platform's capability for sensitive biomarker detection and automated hematocrit analysis.

Main Methods:

• Development of a portable housing, centrifugal microfluidic disc, and mobile phone integration.
• Utilizing smartphone's electrical power for disc rotation (up to 3000 RPM) and embedded sensors for tachometry.
• Proof-of-concept applications: interleukin-2 (IL-2) immunoassay and automated hematocrit measurement.

Main Results:

• Smartphone power successfully drove the centrifugal disc at required speeds.
• Smartphone-based tachometry demonstrated accuracy comparable to standard laser tachometers.
• IL-2 immunoassay achieved a limit of detection (LOD) of 65.17 ng/mL.
• Automated hematocrit analysis, including separation and imaging, completed in under 5 minutes.

Conclusions:

• The developed smartphone-based platform is a low-cost, portable, and integrated solution for POC diagnostics.
• The platform's capabilities align with the REASSURED criteria for advanced diagnostics, particularly in resource-limited settings.
• This technology has the potential to significantly improve accessibility to diagnostic testing.