A rapid, highly sensitive and culture-free detection of pathogens from blood by positive enrichment.

Molecular diagnostics is a promising alternative to culture based methods for the detection of bloodstream infections, notably due to its overall lower turnaround time when starting directly from patient samples. Whole blood is usually the starting diagnostic sample in suspected bloodstream infections. The detection of low concentrations of pathogens in blood using a molecular assay necessitates a fairly high starting volume of blood sample in the range of 5-10mL.

Performance evaluation of low cost microfluidic chips made using a digital craft cutter for point of care applications in nucleic acid tests.

A point of care (POC) diagnostic system development for nucleic acid testing (NAT) for developing countries faces several challenges and barriers among which affordability is a very critical one [1,4]. Hence a study was made to evaluate the effectiveness of microfluidic chips made from a digital craft cutter to be used as a disposable cartridge. Low cost materials like double sided tapes, transparent sheets and connectors were used to realize the microfluidic chip [2].

A mathematical model to predict the optimal test line location and sample volume for lateral flow immunoassays.

Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) platform is one of the most relevant technologies for screening and diagnosing clinical conditions. However due to low sensitivity and poor repeatability of the platform it has been used only for limited and non-critical tests. Mathematical models have been used to understand the principles of capillary flow and antibody antigen based immunoreactions in nitrocellulose membrane typically seen in LFIA.