The University of Washington, Seattle, has received nearly $10 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to continue a project to build a prototype of their paper-based device that can test for infectious diseases on-demand in areas where diagnostic capabilities are limited. They say that the device could be as small as a deck of playing cards and would work like an over-the-counter pregnancy test.
"This test will be inexpensive, simple to use, and robust enough that people could use it in their homes, in the developing world, and in a doctor's office," said lead researcher Paul Yager, professor and chair of the UW bioengineering department.
Using a nasal swab, the disposable device would search for DNA or RNA of a specific set of pathogens in the body fluid sample. If a target pathogen is present, within an hour, a pattern of dots would appear on the test paper. Patients could take a smartphone photo and transmit those results to their physician anywhere in the world for a diagnosis.
The researchers plan to first build a paper-based pathogen identification test that targets methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, then develop tests for the influenza virus, and other infectious diseases.
