Development of Rapid, Low-cost, and Portable Device to Detect Infectious Diseases

Abstract

With the spread of COVID-19, which started the global pandemic in 2019 and continues to be prevalent these days, the importance of developing effective diagnostic methods to limit the spread of infectious diseases has emerged. The standard method used to diagnose severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Still, its disadvantages include high cost, complex equipment, and long diagnostic time. This study developed two loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) based diagnostic methods (Saliva-Dry LAMP and Direct Dry-LAMP) which are rapid, sensitive, and near-patient to overcome the limitations of RT-PCR. Saliva-Dry LAMP has the advantages of the LAMP method and requires saliva samples using a customized portable all-in-one box. Direct Dry-LAMP has a more rapid detection time with a heat inactivation step instead of RNA extraction, and the customized device can be executed with batteries and the developed application. The development of these devices reduces the capital cost of instruments significantly, and both methods have shown great performances with excellent positive percent agreement and negative percent agreement compared to each reference RT-PCR. Another convection-based device combined with real-time detection was developed to perform Direct Dry-LAMP. Although this device is still in development, it underscores the growing need for a random-access platform with real-time detection. Overall, Saliva-Dry LAMP and Direct Dry-LAMP can provide rapid and accurate detection of COVID-19 with portable and low-cost devices. With more widespread use, both these methods could play a central role in efficiently limiting the spread of infectious diseases, especially in resource-limited regions.