Market Assessment of PLUM: A camera-based multimode electronic reader system

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Optical instrumentation for measurement and material characterization has become common place in settings ranging from manufacturing to the food industry to clinical labs. A key tool for optical measurement is the plate reader, which provides large-scale parallel measurement in a number of modes (e.g. absorbance, fluorescence). Imaging systems have also become standard equipment in a large number of similar environments and are heavily used in research labs (e.g. Western blot, protein/DNA gels). Despite the relatively widespread use of these instruments, their high cost and bulky/non-portable design have limited broad access to optical characterization.As we discovered as part of field work for diagnostics (Zika) trials in Latin America, there are currently no commercial options for low-cost and portable optical quantification and characterization. To meet these needs, we developed a camera-based device that we call "PLUM", which is essentially a lab-in-a-box that serves as a low-cost plate reader and imaging system. Our unique analysis method requires less components to operate compared to conventional absorbance mode readers. The combined hardware and software unit provides a self-contained, automated and easy-to-use system for broad applications and includes onboard data collection and analysis, incubation, cloud-based data storage (via Wi-Fi) and is capable of 8-9 hours of battery-operation. When coupled with assays of interest, our platform device can be used to detect variety of substances in fields ranging from diagnostics, agriculture to border security. Multiple copies of PLUM have been successfully deployed in Toronto, Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia for research purposes. This is an application for an I2I Market Assessment grant to reach out to the field and potential customers in order to identify ideal target markets and pain points that will inform and articulate the value proposition and market entry strategy for the successful commercialization of our technology.