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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : November 11, 2018 11:50 AM IST
Image credits by: All you need to know about this cellphone-based tool to detect HIV. ©Shutterstock
HIV is a virus which attacks immune cells also called as CD-4 cells, which are a subset of T cells. The management of HIV, which is an autoimmune disorder that cripples the immune system by attacking healthy cells, is a major global health challenge in developing countries which don't have infrastructure facilities and trained medical professionals.
A cellphone-based novel platform, described in a paper published in the journal Nature Communications, has been designed by the investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital.
Reportedly, according to the senior author Hadi Shafiee, PhD, Principal Investigator in the Division of Engineering in Medicine and Renal Division of Medicine at the Brigham, this cellphone system which is rapid and of low-cost, represents a new method for detecting acute infection, which may reduce virus transmission risk and can be used to detect early treatment failure. Do you know that traditional virus monitoring methods for HIV are costly, requiring the use of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)? Shafiee and his colleagues created a platform that can detect the RNA nucleic acids of the virus from a single drop of blood with the help of nanotechnology, a microchip, a cellphone and a 3D-printed phone attachment.The device will be able to detect the amplified HIV nucleic acids through on-phone monitoring of the motion of DNA-engineered beads without using that expensive equipment.
Reportedly, the researchers observed that the platform allowed the detection of HIV with 99.1 per cent specificity and 94.6 per cent sensitivity at a clinically relevant threshold value of 1,000 virus particles/ml with results within one hour.
According to Shaifee, health workers who are from developing countries can easily use those devices when they travel to perform HIV testing and monitoring. Because the test is so quick, critical decisions about the next medical step could be made right there itself.
According to the lead author Mohamed Shehata Draz, this same technology can be used as a rapid and low-cost diagnostic tool for other viruses and bacteria too.
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