A smartphone app and a laboratory kit are paired to simplify and expedite the diagnosis of urinary tract infections. The app uses a smartphone’s cameAssay schematic for the diagnostic protocol, which entails sample collection, bacterial cell lysis/reagent addition and real-time analysis via the smartphone. Source: University of California Santa Barbarara to measure a chemical reaction and determines a diagnosis in about an hour — and the simple, low-cost test can be performed in the world’s most remote locations.

The collaboration by researchers from University of California Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Pacific Diagnostic Laboratories and Stanford University sought to engineer rapid, low-cost diagnostics for use by healthcare providers anywhere in the world to diagnose bacterial infections. The lab kit can be produced for less than $100 and requires little more than a smartphone, a hot plate, LED lights and a cardboard box.

The smartphone-based real-time loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay is applicable to a variety of pathogens and diverse patient specimens (blood, urine and feces), enabling clinical utility for a number of infectious diseases. Additionally, the test can be modified to detect emerging pathogens that pose an ongoing threat to human health.

The complementary custom-built app was developed for the Android operating system and can be downloaded and installed from the Google Play Store. Upon opening the app, the user is presented with an option for a step-by-step tutorial prior to running test samples.

The research is published in EbioMedicine.