A Portable 3D-Printed Platform for Point-of-Care Diagnosis of Clostridium Difficile Infection and Malaria

Abstract

There is a critical need for better low-cost portable diagnostic platforms that can be used in both hospital and resourcelimited settings. Here, we integrate 3D-printing technology with low-cost open source electronics to develop a portable diagnostic platform suitable for a wide variety of diagnostic and sensing assays. We demonstrate two different clinical applications in the diagnosis of Clostridium difficile infection and malaria. For C. difficile diagnosis, we used the portable diagnostic platform integrated with loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) to demonstrate robust and specific detection of DNA. The device was capable of identifying C. difficile with 100% accuracy using the ten most common C. difficile PCR ribotypes. The device was then adapted as a malaria diagnosis tool suitable for resource-limited settings. The malaria aptamer-tethered enzyme capture (APTEC) assay was integrated with the portable device through integration of 3D-printed components. The device detected malaria biomarker protein P. falciparum lactate dehydrogenase (PfLDH) from simulated blood samples with a sensitivity in a similar clinical range to a laboratory-based spectrophotometer. By exploiting the broad customizability of 3D printed devices, this portable diagnostic platform could be applied to a wide range of other clinically relevant pathogens for rapid and accurate diagnosis within hospitals, clinics and resource-limited settings.