Portable fluorescence reader for Point-of-Care Molecular Diagnostic device

Abstract

Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is routinely used as a diagnostic tool for detection of genetic material of pathogens to confirm whether an individual is infected or not. The readout for quantifying PCR amplicon is still a bottleneck for development of field deployable portable system to perform PCR tests in low-resource settings. Herein we present a portable fluorescence readout system for PCR amplicon readout with high accuracy and sensitivity that can detect as low as 18ng/µL of dsDNA, a concentration 10 times lower than those usually encountered in PCR amplicons. It utilizes a Single Board Computer (SBC) with integrated wireless connectivity, that enables a user friendly and robust system. An optimized system implementation assures a low (<1 watt) power consumption, enabling battery powered usage. We demonstrate the use and efficacy of the developed system as a proof of concept by performing a quantitative analysis of a PCR amplified functional gene belonging to Mycobacterium tuberculosis.