Handheld Impedance Diagnostic System Using Contactless Conductivity
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional nucleic acid testing (NAT) is costly, slow, and often requires complex optical systems and expensive fluorescent labels, making it challenging for point-of-care diagnostics, especially in field or remote settings.
Innovation Solution
A portable, low-power diagnostic system using an assay cartridge with a test well containing excitation and sensing electrodes, coupled with a reader device that employs electrical detection methods, such as contactless conductivity detection, to amplify and detect nucleic acids without the need for optical systems or fluorescent labels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional nucleic acid testing using optical systems and fluorescent labels is used, then detection capability is achieved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces optical detection systems with electrical detection systems. Specifically, it uses contactless conductivity detection through electrodes to monitor nucleic acid amplification, eliminating the need for optical components such as lasers, detectors, and fluorescent labels. This substitution directly reduces device complexity while maintaining detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and removes unnecessary optical components from the detection system. By using electrical detection methods, the system eliminates fluorescent labels and optical detectors, retaining only the essential electrical sensing elements needed for monitoring amplification reactions.
2Reliability
If conventional nucleic acid testing is used, then detection capability is achieved, but testing speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The replacement of optical systems with electrical detection enables real-time monitoring of amplification reactions through impedance changes. This allows for faster detection cycles and reduced testing time while maintaining sensitivity and specificity.
3Reliability
If conventional nucleic acid testing with fluorescent labels is used, then detection capability is achieved, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs disposable assay cartridges that contain all necessary reagents and electrodes in a low-cost format. These single-use cartridges eliminate the need for expensive reusable optical systems and fluorescent labels, significantly reducing the overall cost of the testing system while maintaining detection reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
By substituting expensive fluorescent labels and optical detection systems with inexpensive electrical electrodes and conductivity measurement, the patent dramatically reduces material and system costs while preserving detection capability.
4Reliability
If centralized laboratory facilities are used for nucleic acid testing, then detection capability is achieved, but accessibility decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the testing system into a portable handheld reader and disposable assay cartridges. This segmentation enables the system to be deployed at point-of-care locations such as clinics, field sites, and laboratories, making advanced nucleic acid testing accessible outside of centralized facilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrical detection system with electrodes provides a simplified, portable alternative to complex optical systems, enabling the technology to be implemented in resource-limited settings and at point-of-care locations without requiring centralized laboratory infrastructure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system enables rapid, robust, and cost-effective detection of pathogens and biomarkers at the point of care, reducing the need for centralized laboratory facilities and overcoming challenges associated with crude clinical samples.
Implementation Method 1
mechanically coupling the cap to the cartridge body causes compression of a trapped volume of a fluid to drive at least a portion of the sample through the fluid path into the test well
Implementation Method 2
Handheld impedance-based diagnostic test system for detecting analytes
Data Source
AI summary
The present application is generally directed to systems, methods, and devices for diagnostics for sensing and/or identifying pathogens, genomic materials, proteins, and/or other small molecules or biomarkers. In some implementations, a small footprint low cost device provides rapid and robust sensing and identification. Such a device may utilize microfluidics, biochemistry, and electronics to detect one or more targets at once in the field and closer to or at the point of care. In some implementations, the systems and methods herein implement a reader device, an assay cartridge, and a mobile or external device configured to receive abiological sample, test the biological sample, and provide test results to a patient or user associated with the patient. The test results may be packaged with additional information, including symptoms suffered by the patient, a diagnosis, and follow-up instructions. In some embodiments, the test results may also be provided with or aggregated with other test results to generate aggregate information.