Researchers develop a cellphone-based tool to detect HIV

New York, Nov. 10 (IANS) A team of researchers has developed a mobile and low-cost mobile diagnostic tool, using a cellphone and nanotechnology, which can detect HIV viruses and monitor their management in resource-limited areas.

The management of HIV, an autoimmune disorder that causes the immune system to attack healthy cells, remains a major global health challenge in developing countries that lack infrastructure and trained medical professionals.

Investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital have designed this cellphone-based novel platform, described in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications.

"This rapid and low-cost cellphone system represents a new method for detecting acute infection, which would reduce the risk of virus transmission and could also be used to detect early treatment failure," said senior author Hadi Shafiee, PhD, Principal Investigator in the Division of Engineering in Medicine and Renal Division of Medicine at the Brigham.

Traditional virus monitoring methods for HIV are expensive, requiring the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Utilizing nanotechnology, a microchip, a cellphone and a 3D-printed phone attachment, Shafiee and his colleagues created a platform that can detect the RNA nucleic acids of the virus from a single drop of blood.

The device detects the amplified HIV nucleic acids through on-the-phone monitoring of the motion of DNA-engineered beads without using bulky or expensive equipment.

Researchers found that the platform for HIV detection was 99.1 per cent specific and 94.6 per cent sensitive to a clinically relevant threshold value of 1,000 virus particles / ml – with results within one hour.

Notably, the total material cost of the microchip, phone attachment and reagents was less than $ 5 per test.

"Health workers in developing countries can test the situation because the test is so quick," said Shafiee.

"We could use this technology as a rapid and low-cost diagnostic tool for other viruses and bacteria," said lead author Mohamed Shehata Draz.

–IANS

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