Development of a point-of-care DVD HIV diagnostic device published in Lab on a Chip has been featured on The Guardian’s Global Development Network.
The team led by Aman Russom at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden present a new lab on a DVD for rapid, cheap HIV diagnosis. They modify a commercial DVD drive for this purpose, giving a laser scanning microscope termed DVD-LSM.
A multi-layer disc is combined with the modified DVD reader that allows temperature control. A fluidic polymer disc bonded to the DVD enables sample processing. Fluid propulsion is incorporated, a photodiode array is present for detection and all of the software for processing is driven by a PC. The system enables imaging of biomolecules to 1 μm resolution.
A low level of CD4+ cells is the marker used to decide upon HIV treatment. The surface of the disc is functionalised with anti-CD4 antibodies to allow the system to detect and count stained CD4+ cells.
The combination of robust fluidic sample handling, detection capability and sub-micron resolution imaging means this fully integrated device is a hugely important step towards practical point-of-care Lab-on-DVD diagnostics. The team aim to reduce the sample preparation steps to simplify the procedure.
You can read the Guardian Global Development Network article here or skip straight to the full fascinating and clearly written Lab on a Chip article.
Lab-on-DVD: standard DVD drives as a novel laser scanning microscope for image based point of care diagnostics
Harisha Ramachandraiah, Mary Amasia, Jackie Cole, Paul Sheard, Simon Pickhaver, Chris Walker, Valtteri Wirta, Preben Lexow, Richard Lione and Aman Russom
DOI: 10.1039/C3LC41360H
