Multiplex Lateral Flow Assay for Febrile Illness Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current rapid screening tests for febrile illnesses often lead to misdiagnosis due to non-specific symptoms, resulting in improper treatment and potential spread of infectious diseases like Ebola, Malaria, Dengue fever, and Plague, as they are not sensitive enough to distinguish between different febrile illnesses.
Innovation Solution
A multiplex, qualitative assay test using a lateral flow sorbent material test strip with distinct test lines and conjugates bound to colloidal gold dye particles, allowing for the simultaneous detection of multiple febrile illnesses in a bodily fluid, such as fingerstick whole blood, providing quick and accurate results.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Speed
If a single rapid screening test is used for febrile illnesses, then the testing speed is fast and操作简单, but the diagnostic accuracy is low and misdiagnosis occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The test strip is divided into multiple independent test lines (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5) that simultaneously detect different febrile illnesses (Dengue, Malaria, Ebola, Plague, Melioidosis). Each test line contains specific antibodies or antigens for its target pathogen, allowing parallel detection without compromising speed or accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
A single test strip performs multiple detection functions by integrating five different diagnostic pathways into one device. The strip can simultaneously identify multiple pathogens causing febrile illnesses, eliminating the need for separate tests while maintaining both speed and diagnostic precision
2Measurement precision
If multiple separate tests are used to distinguish different febrile illnesses, then the diagnostic accuracy improves, but the testing time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Five separate diagnostic functions are merged into a single test strip with multiple test lines. All detections occur simultaneously in one application, reducing testing time while maintaining the diagnostic accuracy of individual tests through parallel processing
Solution Approach 2:
The detection process transitions from sequential testing (one after another) to parallel testing (simultaneously) by adding the dimension of spatial multiplexing across multiple test lines on the same strip, achieving both speed and accuracy
3Ease of operation
If conventional rapid screening tests are used, then the operation is simple, but the ability to distinguish between epidemiologically independent pathogens is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
Each test line on the strip has specialized local properties with specific antibodies or antigens tailored to detect particular pathogens. This localized specialization enables precise pathogen differentiation while the overall strip structure remains simple to operate as a single unit
Solution Approach 2:
The test strip uses identical structural design and detection methodology across all test lines, with each line being a copy of the basic detection unit but with pathogen-specific reagents. This standardized copying approach maintains operational simplicity while achieving sophisticated differentiation capability
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
Enables early and accurate diagnosis of febrile illnesses, facilitating effective treatment and preventing disease transmission by distinguishing between epidemiologically independent pathogens, thus improving point-of-care decision-making.
Implementation Method 1
A test site is provided on or in the test strip with distinct test lines, each comprising a ligand-binding protein or particle adapted to couple with an antigen (antibody) of a distinct one of the febrile illnesses under test. Spaced apart from the test site are a plurality of conjugates adapted to combine with an antigen (or antibody) of the respective febrile illnesses under test. The conjugates include colloidal gold dye particles, and are bound to the test strip in a solid phase.
Data Source
AI summary
A single-use multiplex, or assay, screening test for the detection of one or more of a plurality of unrelated febrile illnesses is provided. The febrile illnesses for which the test is designed are unrelated, in that the illnesses may be caused, by way of example, by infection from viruses, bacterium and/or parasites; by infection from viruses, bacterium, parasites or other contagions that are animal borne; by infection from viruses, bacterium, parasites, or other contagions that can be aerosolized for transmission; by infection from viruses, bacterium, parasites or other contagions that are transmitted from direct contact; by infection from viruses, bacterium, parasites or other contagions that are generally transmitted in the tropics and/or subtropics; and/or by infection from a virus, bacteria, parasite sharing one or more related feature and which causes a febrile illness. The assay test provides rapid results to a point of care center or other facility requiring such results to facilitate treatment and or containment of the illnesses.