
via Infection Control Today
Diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) early can allow patients to receive the medicine they need and also help prevent the disease from spreading. But in resource-limited areas, equipment requirements and long wait times for results are obstacles to diagnosis and treatment. To tackle this problem, scientists report in ACS Sensors the development of a fast, paper-based tuberculosis test that can be read with a smartphone.
The World Health Organization estimates that in 2015, 1.4 million people died from TB, with most of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. Early diagnosis could help curb these numbers. But conventional methods such as sputum smear microscopy, chest X-rays and molecular-based tests require equipment, electricity and specialized personnel that are not always available in remote or developing areas. So Chien-Fu Chen and colleagues set out to come up with a more practical diagnostic test that can be read with a smartphone, a technology that is increasingly available in emerging economies.
The researchers combined gold nanoparticles with single-stranded DNA sequences that bind to the genetic material of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that cause TB. These nanoparticles were then incorporated into a paper-based device. Adding even a minute amount of lab-derived, double-stranded DNA from M. tuberculosis changed the color of the test spots within an hour. A smartphone camera was used to analyze the color change to determine the bacterial concentration. The researchers also tested a tissue sample from an infected patient to further demonstrate that the device could be used in the field.
Learn more: Paper-based tuberculosis test could boost diagnoses in developing countries
The Latest on: Tuberculosis
- Mizzou Student Diagnosed With Active Tuberculosis on February 19, 2019 at 1:31 am
Feb. 19--COLUMBIA, Mo. (KFSM) — University of Missouri officials announced Monday (Feb. 18) that a student has been diagnosed with active tuberculosis (TB). According to the school’s Twitter account, ... […]
- Missouri student on Columbia campus has active tuberculosis on February 18, 2019 at 9:02 pm
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — University of Missouri officials say a student on the Columbia campus has active tuberculosis and may have infected other people. The school announced Monday that the Boone County ... […]
- Student diagnosed with active tuberculosis at University of Missouri on February 18, 2019 at 7:28 pm
Feb. 18--COLUMBIA, Mo. — University of Missouri officials announced Monday that a student has been diagnosed with active tuberculosis. Load Error The university said the student has voluntarily left t... […]
- Mizzou student has active tuberculosis, school officials say on February 18, 2019 at 12:16 pm
A student at the University of Missouri in Columbia has active tuberculosis and possibly infected others, school officials announced Monday. School officials are investigating the case with the Boone ... […]
- University of Missouri student leaves campus after being diagnosed with tuberculosis on February 18, 2019 at 11:36 am
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMOV.com) -- A student at the University of Missouri has left campus after reportedly contracting tuberculosis. The university announced the news on Twitter, saying the student left vol... […]
- Tuberculosis: Commandeering a Bacterial 'Suicide' Mechanism on February 18, 2019 at 11:13 am
The bacteria responsible for tuberculosis can be killed by a toxin they produce unless it is neutralized by an antidote protein. The European team of scientists behind this discovery is coordinated by ... […]
- Suicide system in tuberculosis bacteria might hold key to treatment on February 18, 2019 at 9:00 am
This is the high-resolution structure of the toxin-antitoxin system. Credit: EMBL Hamburg Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top ten causes of death worldwide. In 2017, 10 million people around the ... […]
- Tuberculosis diagnosis sends U Missouri student packing on February 18, 2019 at 7:30 am
A student has voluntarily left the campus of the University of Missouri after being diagnosed with active tuberculosis, the school announced. School and health officials were working closely to identi... […]
- To end tuberculosis, we must invest in a more streamlined approach on February 18, 2019 at 6:30 am
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill When I was a young doctor in Turkey, I quickly learned to take a bird’s eye view of health care. I started working ... […]
via Google News and Bing News