HIV testing on a USB stick

[mtdoc]

Pretty cool.  Perhaps the dawn of a new era of USB - based point of care medical testing.

HIV test performed on USB stick

From the original journal article:

Here we describe a novel approach to HIV-1 viral load detection based on a novel CMOS chip platform that is able to detect small changes in pH generated by on-chip reactions10. The chip has embedded heaters and thermal sensors that facilitate on-chip nucleic acid amplification, and the hydrogen ions produced during DNA polymerisation are detected and quantified via the on board ISFET (Ion Sensing Field Effect Transistors) pH detection sensors (Fig. 1). The method is capable of working on a USB compatible stick without the need for additional power supply, labelling or fluorescence detection and with the potential for operation without a desktop platform. We describe the design and evaluation of an isothermal, low buffer, pH RT-LAMP reaction and demonstration of its efficacy with the CMOS technology.

[M4trix]

[steve30]

Perhaps the dawn of a new era of USB - based point of care medical testing.

I read that particular sentence and it made me think of the idea of fitting the human body with a USB diagnostics port  .

[trophosphere]

There are commercial implementations of POCT that use USB such as a glucometer which plugs into the phone. Granted this seems much more complex but it is definitely progress. I need a USB enabled POCT blood gas device that I can use in the ICU for my patients on a vent. Those continuous blood gas monitors cost too much and require an external A-line shunt.

[Brumby]

Perhaps the dawn of a new era of USB - based point of care medical testing.

I read that particular sentence and it made me think of the idea of fitting the human body with a USB diagnostics port  .

Give it time.

... though it will probably be NFC or Bluetooth.

[rrinker]

 That of which you speak has actually been around for a little while now. If there's one industry that's always on top of the latest technology, that would be it.

[mtdoc]

There are commercial implementations of POCT that use USB such as a glucometer which plugs into the phone. Granted this seems much more complex but it is definitely progress.

I think the advancement here is using the CMOS and power provided by the USB port to essentially run an "assay on a chip" and then use the computer to process the data.

I need a USB enabled POCT blood gas device that I can use in the ICU for my patients on a vent. Those continuous blood gas monitors cost too much and require an external A-line shunt.

Yeah, that may be the future. Essentially an iStat type device that plugs into a smart phone/tablet or beside computer which allows an entire array of point of care diagnostics. Add ultrasound imaging and you essential have a "tricorder" realized!

[purfield]

I work as a researcher at a university in a group developing low cost POC diagnostic devices.  I'm working on a USB stick assay right now!  It's an interesting field of study with lots of potential impact and some serious technical challenges...