In order to help combat the high rates of sexually transmitted diseases like chlamydia in areas of Maryland, Mechanical Engineering Professor Jeff Wang and graduate student Dong Jin Shin have created a low-cost diagnostic tool that detects chlamydia within 30 minutes.
The tool, tentatively called mobiLab, is made of a disposable cartridge for a genital swab sample and a heating unit that incubates the DNA to facilitate a reaction. The test results are delivered to and processed by a mobile app on a smartphone connected to the battery-powered device. It is 6 inches tall, weighs as much as two or three iPhones, and costs about $200 to manufacture. Yet, the per-run cost of the platform is estimated to be $2.
While mobiLab hasn’t been tested for infections other than chlamydia, Prof. Wang says it could be used to test for other DNA/RNA-based infections. His group plans to run a clinical trial with patients at Johns Hopkins Hospital, then extend the application of the device with an HIV test, which uses RNA-based detection, and sepsis, which is DNA-based, he said.
The end goal is for the device to be used at patients’ homes, like an at-home pregnancy test. Areas of the world with limited medical access could also greatly benefit from the tool.
Read more about this exciting research in The Baltimore Sun.