Dengue Detection: Advances in Diagnostic Tools from Conventional Technology to Point of Care.

The dengue virus (DENV) is a vector-borne flavivirus that infects around 390 million individuals each year with 2.5 billion being in danger. Having access to testing is paramount in preventing future infections and receiving adequate treatment. Currently, there are numerous conventional methods for DENV testing, such as NS1 based antigen testing, IgM/IgG antibody testing, and Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). In addition, novel methods are emerging that can cut both cost and time. Such methods can be effective in rural and low-income areas throughout the world. In this paper, we discuss the structural evolution of the virus followed by a comprehensive review of current dengue detection strategies and methods that are being developed or commercialized. We also discuss the state of art biosensing technologies, evaluated their performance and outline strategies to address challenges posed by the disease. Further, we outline future guidelines for the improved usage of diagnostic tools during recurrence or future outbreaks of DENV.

Advances in HIV diagnosis and monitoring.

Although highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) has been introduced over twenty years ago to treat Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) positive patients, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is still one of the deadliest diseases found worldwide. AIDS prevalence and mortality rates are usually more pronounced in resource-constrained countries than in the developed world. The lack of trained medical technicians, sophisticated diagnostic equipment, and the overall scarcity of medical infrastructures have severely impacted HIV/AIDS diagnostics, which hinders the initiation and periodic monitoring of antiretroviral therapy (ART). Currently, available HIV viral load assays are not well-suited for resource-limited settings due to their high cost and a requirement for medical/technical infrastructures. In this paper, we review current and emerging diagnostic assays for HIV detection, with a focus on point-of-care (POC) based immunoassays for viral load measurement, drug resistance, and HIV recurrence. We also discuss the limitations of the available HIV assays and highlight the technological advancements in cellphone, paper, and flexible material-based assays which have the potential to improve HIV diagnosis and monitoring, thus assisting with the management of the disease.

Development of a Flow-Free Automated Colorimetric Detection Assay Integrated with Smartphone for Zika NS1.

The Zika virus (ZIKV) is an emerging flavivirus transmitted to humans by Aedes mosquitoes that can potentially cause microcephaly, Guillain-Barré Syndrome, and other birth defects. Effective vaccines for Zika have not yet been developed. There is a necessity to establish an easily deployable, high-throughput, low-cost, and disposable point-of-care (POC) diagnostic platform for ZIKV infections. We report here an automated magnetic actuation platform suitable for a POC microfluidic sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using antibody-coated superparamagnetic beads. The smartphone integrated immunoassay is developed for colorimetric detection of ZIKV nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) antigen using disposable chips to accommodate the reactions inside the chip in microliter volumes. An in-house-built magnetic actuator platform automatically moves the magnetic beads through different aqueous phases. The assay requires a total of 9 min to automatically control the post-capture washing, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) conjugated secondary antibody probing, washing again, and, finally, color development. By measuring the saturation intensity of the developed color from the smartphone captured video, the presented assay provides high sensitivity with a detection limit of 62.5 ng/mL in whole plasma. These results advocate a great promise that the platform would be useful for the POC diagnosis of Zika virus infection in patients and can be used in resource-limited settings.

Developing an Iterative Tracking Algorithm to Guide a Catheter Towards Atrial Fibrillation Rotor Sources in Simulated Fibrotic Tissue.

Locating atrial fibrillation (AF) rotor sources can help target ablation therapy for AF. Our aim was to develop a catheter-tracking algorithm to locate AF rotor sources using a conventional 20-electrode circular catheter. We simulated rotor-driven arrhythmias in homogeneous and fibrotic human atrial tissue and evaluated the algorithm for different initial catheter positions. The algorithm guided and detected a rotor with a success rate of greater than 97.9% independently of the initial position of the catheter with an accuracy of greater than 2.3±1.4 mm.