Instrument-free nucleic acid amplification assays for global health settings

Paul LaBarre; David Boyle; Kenneth Hawkins; Bernhard Weigl

doi:10.1117/12.882868

16 May 2011 Instrument-free nucleic acid amplification assays for global health settings

Paul LaBarre, David Boyle, Kenneth Hawkins, Bernhard Weigl

Proceedings Volume 8029, Sensing Technologies for Global Health, Military Medicine, Disaster Response, and Environmental Monitoring; and Biometric Technology for Human Identification VIII; 802902 (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.882868
Event: SPIE Defense, Security, and Sensing, 2011, Orlando, Florida, United States

Abstract

Many infectious diseases that affect global health are most accurately diagnosed through nucleic acid amplification and detection. However, existing nucleic acid amplification tests are too expensive and complex for most low-resource settings. The small numbers of centralized laboratories that exist in developing countries tend to be in urban areas and primarily cater to the affluent. In contrast, rural area health care facilities commonly have only basic equipment and health workers have limited training and little ability to maintain equipment and handle reagents.1 Reliable electric power is a common infrastructure shortfall. In this paper, we discuss a practical approach to the design and development of non-instrumented molecular diagnostic tests that exploit the benefits of isothermal amplification strategies. We identify modular instrument-free technologies for sample collection, sample preparation, amplification, heating, and detection. By appropriately selecting and integrating these instrument-free modules, we envision development of an easy to use, infrastructure independent diagnostic test that will enable increased use of highly accurate molecular diagnostics at the point of care in low-resource settings.

Citation Download Citation

Paul LaBarre, David Boyle, Kenneth Hawkins, and Bernhard Weigl "Instrument-free nucleic acid amplification assays for global health settings", Proc. SPIE 8029, Sensing Technologies for Global Health, Military Medicine, Disaster Response, and Environmental Monitoring; and Biometric Technology for Human Identification VIII, 802902 (16 May 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.882868

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available