When health clinics are a two-day excursion away, diagnosis and early detection are crucial. While it is estimated that the practice of diagnostics comprises only three to five percent of healthcare spending, it impacts about 70 percent of healthcare decisions, according to the Royal Society of Chemistry. Therefore, investing in low-cost diagnostic tools has the potential to drastically impact the prevention and treatment of the leading causes of death in the developing world.

Diagnostics For All, a non-profit organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, strives to create innovative, point-of-care, low-cost diagnostic tools specifically designed for those that live in “resource-poor” communities. Among their research endeavors, Diagnostics For All has developed a paper-based diagnostic tool the size of a fingernail that can be used to diagnose a myriad of diseases including tuberculosis and diabetes.

Dr. George Whitesides, co-founder of Diagnostics For All, describes the paper microfluidic tool as a more advanced, quantitative version of a pregnancy test in a 2009 Boston TED Talk. The paper chip is used to wick away fluid such as urine and changes color depending on the micronutrients being tested.

Next, the idea is to have the user take a picture of the color-developed paper “microchip” and send it to a laboratory for analysis. This technology has the potential to eliminate the need to send doctors to these developing regions, lowers the risk of disease transmission that can occur when using “sharps” such as needles and can be inexpensively repeated various times for efficacy.

Why choose paper over other materials? “One reason for using paper is that it’s everywhere. We have made these kinds of devices using napkins and toilet paper and wraps, and all kinds of stuff,” says Whitesides. “So, the production capability is there. The second is, you can put lots and lots of tests in a very small place.”

Although paper is an economical resource, it would cost an estimated $800 to fund a single printer that is used to embed wax reading-strips into the chip to complete the device. Even then, the wax printer pays for itself when considering its ability to create 10 million tests per year if it ran 24 hours a day—each chip costing a mere five cents.

Cornell University’s Interaction Design Lab is currently developing a low cost diagnostic tool called Nutriphone. Nutriphone is a smartphone application and micronutrient testing device. Users add a dab of blood to a test strip that’s then inserted into a custom phone accessory which triggers the phone’s camera to take a photograph of the test strip. The Nutriphone app then analyzes the blood results to provide accurate health markers such as testing Vitamin B12—low levels of which may indicate anemia.

However, the main drawback of both Whitesides’ paper microfluidic chip and the Nutriphone app is cellular access in impoverished regions. While the spread of cellular technology is increasing in the developing world, 10 percent of the world population still lacks access to basic voice and text services, according to the Consumer Technology Association.

If increasing access to mobile phones in tandem with funding for the development and distribution of low-cost diagnostic tools were prioritized, the potential to bring DIY-medical testing to underprivileged communities could empower the world’s poor.

– Daniela N. Sarabia

Photo: Flickr