With Smartphone Technology Dengue Fever Test!

Researchers from the University of Reading have developed a new diagnostic kit called Cygnus, which can detect Dengue fever at significantly improved rates compared to lateral flow test kits.

The new diagnostic test developed for the research uses 'laboratory on strip' technology, which performs 10 or more tests of a very small amount of liquid samples (such as blood, urine or saliva).

The results, published in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, showed that the new tests outperformed lateral flow testing with 82% clinical sensitivity and had levels of sensitivity equivalent to hospital-based laboratory diagnostics.

Researchers say the new system, which can be used in contingency with paper and a smartphone, shows exciting potential for the use of microfluidic 'laboratory on strip' tests.

#denguefever #smartphone #microfluidics

Study Details: Needs SH, et al. Smartphone multiplex microcapillary diagnostics using Cygnus: Development and evaluation of rapid serotype-specific NS1 detection with dengue patient samples. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2022; 16 (4): e0010266 http://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010266