Smartphone multiplex microcapillary diagnostics using Cygnus: Development and evaluation of rapid serotype-specific NS1 detection with dengue patient samples

https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0010266

Accurate home testing could be used for a wider range of illnesses. In this paper published in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, we used a new diagnostic kit we termed Cygnus to detect Dengue Fever with significantly improved rates over lateral flow testing kits.

Working with academics and clinicians in Thailand, we tested over 200 dengue patient samples using the microfluidic system against standard laboratory ELISA, RT-PCR and LFT. We found similar sensitivity to standard microplate ELISA and increased sensitivity than LFT.

The paper shows exciting potential for the use of the microfluidic ‘lab on a strip’ tests that can used in conjunction with a smartphone and are more powerful than LFT testing in this case. As well as being cheap to produce, the lab on a strip technology allows users to test many times.