#Poc molecular diagnostics portable#

#Poc molecular diagnostics portable#

For this, molecular tests already developed and validated for conventional PCR were used, but in this case carrying out their internal reaction, sensing and data analysis using opto-electronic techniques in a portable and low-cost device. The main objective that drove this development was to positively combine existing detection techniques to achieve a portable alternative in terms of rapid tests. Seeking to open the way to better PoC diagnostic systems, being devices that allow immediate diagnosis in low complexity centers, reducing costs, speeding up analysis, interconnecting data in real time and above all considerably increasing the levels of testing in critical situations. This demand is what drives the development of rapid tests and where this work is focused. These new global contexts generate the need for increasingly rapid diagnostic tools, maintaining their sensitivity and repeatability parameters. In these cases, testing methods with the same accuracy are required, which can be easily distributed in different strategic sites to control the circulation of a virus and which provide decentralized data. Under low demand conditions, these methods manage to meet the needs, but they are far away in critical situations. 6Ĭurrently, the most widely used methodologies for virus detection are based on serological methods (ELISA) 7 or real-time PCR 8, 9 and, in general, biological safety laboratories equipped with expensive equipment are necessary and results can take few days. Therefore, these systems have the particularity of bringing together multiple technological areas for a common objective, in our case: to develop bio-photonic devices for molecular diagnosis. These devices integrate multiple disciplinary areas depending on their characteristics (biotechnology, electronics, mechanics, photonics, among others). 5 In particular, they stand out for: allowing direct sample diagnosis (serum, blood, urine, saliva), obtaining fast results and not requiring additional equipment for their detection / development. The most successful platforms are based on electrochemical reactions (eg glucose measurement) 4 and lateral flow (eg pregnancy diagnosis). 1- 3 These systems are widely used for the diagnosis of various pathologies. The Point of Care (PoC) concept focuses on the idea of reducing a complete laboratory analysis in a small device, allowing the preparation, transport, reaction and analysis of reagents, without loss of efficiency and precision of measurement and fundamentally that it can be carried out in low complexity centers.

All the analysis is done autonomously inside the developed device through an integrated control system and it is connected to a portable device to show the results wirelessly. Under these conditions, a signal is registered in a built-in detector and, depending on the signal level, define the case as positive or negative. These filters limit the spectral regions and allow discriminating the analysis band. The emitted fluorescence is suitably filtered using interferential filters. The device excites the sample to be analyzed with light (led or semiconductor lasers with specific wavelengths) thus it triggers a spontaneous emission of the fluorophore bound to the specific probe. The system consists in the fluorescence signal detection generated by a specific probe of the target viral genome, that coupled to isothermal amplification reaction, allowing the detection of the pathogen in the sample. This method can be conducted for saliva samples. This instrument is able to detect certain diseases by means of a luminescence spectral analysis. Specifically, in this work, a bio-photonic device has been developed. These systems are defined as medical diagnostic testing at or near the point of care (that is, at the time and place of patient care). With this objective, diagnostic systems called point of care have been recently developed. It is necessary to have economic and faster diagnostic tools that allows evaluating samples of patients with symptoms. On the other hand, since the worldwide pandemic of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19), people’s health and the economic support of their countries have been seriously affected. In recent years, Argentina and countries of the region, have suffered epidemics associated with arboviruses, mainly Dengue and more recently Zika and Chikungunya.