A smartphone-based on-site nucleic acid testing platform at point-of-care settings

Electrophoresis. 2019 Mar;40(6):914-921. doi: 10.1002/elps.201800449. Epub 2018 Dec 13.

Abstract

We developed a smartphone-based on-site nucleic acid testing (NAT) platform that can image and analyze lateral flow nucleic acid assays at point-of-care settings. An inexpensive add-on was devised to run lateral flow assays while providing homogeneous ambient light for imaging. In addition, an Android app with a user-friendly interface was developed for the result analysis and management. Linear color calibration is implemented inside the app to minimize the colorimetric reaction difference between smartphones. A relationship function between nucleic acid concentration and colorimetric reaction was established and evaluated by leave-one-out cross validation. The predicted concentration and true concentration showed a good agreement with an R-squared value of 0.96. This smartphone-based NAT platform can be used to diagnose infectious diseases and monitor disease progression, and assess treatment efficacy, especially for resource-limited settings.

Keywords: Lateral flow assay; Nucleic acid testing; Point-of-care diagnostics; Smartphone.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Equipment Design
  • HIV / genetics
  • HIV / isolation & purification
  • Mobile Applications*
  • Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques* / instrumentation
  • Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques* / methods
  • Nucleic Acids / analysis
  • Point-of-Care Systems*
  • Smartphone*

Substances

  • Nucleic Acids