UCLA team develops paper-based assay for rapid cardiac diagnostics

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Researchers from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a paper-based vertical flow assay that shows the potential for providing rapid, reliable cardiac diagnostics within 15 minutes in point-of-care (POC) settings, particularly those with limited resources.

The research team’s findings, recently published in ACS Nano, showed that the high-sensitivity VFA (hs-VFA) can accurately detect cardiac troponin I (cTnI), biomarker associated with cardiac damage, using a small sample of serum, making it ideal for emergency settings or remote locations.

The hs-VFA system consists of a paper-based sensor that uses rapid nanoparticle amplification chemistry, a portable reader with time-lapse imaging capability, and deep-learning algorithms for computational analysis. 

The findings showed that the hs-VFA system had a detection limit for cTnl that significantly surpassed that of POC devices currently in use by a significant margin. 

Moreover, the researchers stress that the system is cost-effective: the paper-based sensor cost $3.86 per test for them to produce; the custom Raspberry Pi-based prototype portable reader cost approximately $170 per unit. With higher-volume production, the team noted, the costs would be even lower. 

In the future, the research team suggests, their hs-VFA platform could be adapted to measure other biomarkers, offering potential for low-cost, rapid, portable diagnostics for other applications and illnesses.

“We envision this technology being widely used to expedite global diagnostic equity for testing challenging disease biomarkers,” they wrote.

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