# Smartphone-linked system for diagnosis and epidemiological reporting of pathogens at the point of care

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN · 2021 · $392,077

## Abstract

Abstract
Infectious disease remains the world’s top contributor to death and disability, and, due to their ability to spread
rapidly through insect vectors or contact with bodily fluids, there is an urgent need for simple, sensitive and
easily translatable point-of-care tests, particularly for infections that are difficult to differentiate based upon
clinical symptoms alone. This project develops a novel point-of-care platform to quantitatively diagnose viral
infectious diseases (Zika, Dengue (types 1 and 3), and Chikungunya) from whole blood samples using a
microfluidic platform that performs sample pre-processing in a microfluidic cartridge followed by real-time
reverse-transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) in the same cartridge with pre-dried
primers specific to pathogen targets. Our handheld, inexpensive (~$500), point-of-care platform communicates
its measurements to a smartphone to process a sequence of fluorescence images of the amplification reaction.
Image analysis of the dynamic amplification process is used to estimate the pathogen count from amplification
initiation points using a novel approach called “spatial” LAMP (S-LAMP). Our preliminary data shows that the
approach provides selectivity and detection limits that are equivalent to conventional Polymerase Chain
Reaction (PCR) or LAMP reactions performed with conventional laboratory instruments, and the ability to
detect the targets with high specificity from complex media. The S-LAMP approach demonstrates potential to
detect 1-5 pathogen copies per reaction. The system will be evaluated using a rigorous tiered approach using
plasmids containing the target nucleic acid sequence for initial characterization of detection limits, followed by
nucleic acid pathogen extracts, culminating of detection of the pathogens in whole blood using chemical lysis
to release target nucleic acids. Partnering with collaborators at the Institute for Infectious Diseases in Brazil,
and Carle Clinic in Urbana, the system will be utilized on patient sample repositories and measurements
compared to gold standard analysis. Importantly, as detection, image processing, and quantitation are
performed with the smartphone microprocessor, detection is easily integrated with a cloud-based database
reporting system that facilitates communication with remotely-located physicians and tracking of
epidemiological data by health services. The resulting platform will be broadly applicable to a wide variety of
multiplexed panels of pathogens that are of interest for human health, animal health, food safety, and
environmental monitoring.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10241489
- **Project number:** 5R01AI139401-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN
- **Principal Investigator:** Rashid Bashir
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $392,077
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-05 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10241489

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10241489, Smartphone-linked system for diagnosis and epidemiological reporting of pathogens at the point of care (5R01AI139401-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10241489. Licensed CC0.

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