I-Corps: Rapid, low-cost, microfluidic chips for molecular point-of-care diagnostics

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The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of simple and low-cost point-of-care microfluidic molecular (DNA/RNA) tests that are designed to be used in decentralized or low-resource settings. Currently, point-of-care tests for infectious diseases are predominately done in a paper dipstick format. Although these dipstick tests are inexpensive, they have limited sensitivity. As an alternative, the most sensitive detection method entails DNA/RNA detection by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), however PCR testing often requires time-consuming manual steps and costly equipment. Because of its cost, PCR is generally confined to centralized laboratories, so front-line decentralized clinics can suffer days to weeks of delay in testing results because samples need to be sent out for testing. Low-cost nucleic acid detection is desirable for point-of-care diagnostics; The availability of an on-site molecular tests will give doctors a powerful tool to confirm diagnosis of infectious diseases and allow faster treatment with higher sensitivity. This project will help confirm the best product-market strategy to deploy the technology, and guide the development of devices that makes positive impact for better patient management, increased accessibility to molecular testing, and a faster response to epidemics.This I-Corps project is based on several patented microfluidic technologies developed for on-site nucleic acid detection. The microfluidic chip is designed to reduce molecular testing setup costs by 100X. The key technologies include vacuum based self-powered microfluidic chips that do not require any costly equipment often necessary seen in conventional microfluidic setups (such as external pumps, controllers, valves, or power sources). This allows the microfluidic test to be a fraction of the cost compared to conventional microfluidics. The vacuum technology also makes the microfluidic chips fully portable and easily transportable, which is ideal for decentralized point-of-care use. It was also possible to perform sample preparation with the vacuum based microfluidic technology. Using this vacuum based microfluidic platform, it is possible for rapid quantitative digital nucleic acid detection of drug resistant bacteria DNA directly from human blood samples within 30 minutes. These technical features are important building blocks for building autonomous, portable, lab-on-chip technologies for a future generation of low-cost molecular diagnostic assays.