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It is again proved that Science and Technology can do anything for human beings, researchers from Columbia University has developed a low-cost smartphone application or dongle, which can perform a test to detect three infectious disease markers simultaneously from a finger prick of blood in just 15 minutes.

The device replicates the combined function of mechanical, optical, and electronic functions of a lab-based blood test. Specifically, it performs an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) with the power from the smartphone itself.

Samuel K. Sia, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Columbia's School of Engineering and Applied Science, led team of scientists. "It performs a triplexed immunoassay not currently available in a single test format, HIV antibody, treponemal-specific antibody for syphilis, and non-treponemal antibody for active syphilis infection," Sia explained.

The dongle can be easily connected to computer and smartphone, a pilot project executed by health care workers in Rwanda who tested whole blood obtained via a finger prick from 96 patients. And the most of the patients (97 percent) said that they would recommend the dongle because of its fast turn-around time, ability to offer results for multiple diseases and ease of procedure.

"By increasing detection of syphilis infections, we might be able to reduce deaths by 10-fold. We might be able to scale up HIV testing at the community level with immediate antiretroviral therapy that could nearly stop HIV transmissions and approach elimination of this devastating disease," the authors concluded.

The innovation can transform the diagnosis procedures and can help the suspects across the globe for early diagnosis and cheap method. The pregnant women will benefit maximum, because it can alarm if they have HIV positive in early detections and consequently protects babies from HIV.

The work was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.

-Kannamsai