LAMP-enabled diagnosis of Kaposi's sarcoma for sub-Saharan Africa.

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is an endothelial cancer caused by the Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and is one of the most common cancers in sub-Saharan Africa. In limited-resource settings, traditional pathology infrastructure is often insufficient for timely diagnosis, leading to frequent diagnoses at advanced-stage disease where survival is poor. In this study, we investigate molecular diagnosis of KS performed in a point-of-care device to circumvent the limited infrastructure for traditional diagnosis.

MINI: A high-throughput point-of-care device for performing hundreds of nucleic acid tests per day.

There are a variety of infectious diseases with a high incidence and mortality in limited resource settings that could benefit from rapid point of care molecular diagnosis. Global health efforts have sought to implement mass-screening programs to provide earlier detection and subsequent treatment in an effort to control transmission and improve health outcomes. However, many of the current diagnostic technologies under development are limited to fewer than 10 samples per run, which inherently restricts the screening throughput of these devices.

Rapid nucleic acid extraction from skin biopsies using a point-of-care device.

Sample processing is often the rate-limiting step for point-of-care nucleic acid testing, especially for large, robust tissues such as skin biopsies, which can be used to diagnose a variety of dermatological diseases. Extraction of nucleic acids from these samples often relies on lengthy enzymatic digestions, increasing the time to result and reducing the potential impact of rapid molecular diagnostic approaches. To address this, we have developed BLENDER, a device for rapid nucleic acid extraction from tissue biopsies that combines bead-beating homogenization with simultaneous sample heating for enzymatic lysis.

A Rapid, Isothermal, and Point-of-Care System for COVID-19 Diagnostics.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound, detrimental effect on economies and societies worldwide. Where the pandemic has been controlled, extremely high rates of diagnostic testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus have proven critical, enabling isolation of cases and contact tracing. Recently, diagnostic testing has been supplemented with wastewater measures to evaluate the degree to which communities have infections.

Early Warning Diagnostics for Emerging Infectious Diseases in Developing into Late-Stage Pandemics.

The spread of infectious diseases due to travel and trade can be seen throughout history, whether from early settlers or traveling businessmen. Increased globalization has allowed infectious diseases to quickly spread to different parts of the world and cause widespread infection. Posthoc analysis of more recent outbreaks-SARS, MERS, swine flu, and COVID-19-has demonstrated that the causative viruses were circulating through populations for days or weeks before they were first detected, allowing disease to spread before quarantines, contact tracing, and travel restrictions could be implemented.

Combined nucleus pulposus augmentation and annulus fibrosus repair prevents acute intervertebral disc degeneration after discectomy.

Tissue-engineered approaches for the treatment of early-stage intervertebral disc degeneration have shown promise in preclinical studies. However, none of these therapies has been approved for clinical use, in part because each therapy targets only one aspect of the intervertebral disc's composite structure. At present, there is no reliable method to prevent intervertebral disc degeneration after herniation and subsequent discectomy.

Point of care technologies for sepsis diagnosis and treatment.

Sepsis is a rapidly progressing, life threatening immune response triggered by infection that affects millions worldwide each year. Current clinical diagnosis relies on broad physiological parameters and time consuming lab-based cell culture. If proper treatment is not provided, cases of sepsis can drastically increase in severity over the course of a few hours.