1. Fig. 1. Overview of the dongle.
Overview of the dongle. (A) An image of the dongle with a microfluidic cassette connected to an iPod touch. (B) Schematic diagram of dongle highlighting a power-free vacuum generator using the audio jack connector for audio-based powering and frequency shift keying (FSK) data transmission to a smartphone or other smart-enabled device. Subfigure shows vacuum activation. (C) Left: A reagent cassette (top layer) that contains prestored reagents [washes (yellow) and silver A and B (blue and green)] and the test cassette (bottom layer) that contains five detection zones. Reagents are numbered in the order they flow through the test cassette. First, blood in the inlet flows through the channels, followed by gold-labeled antibodies resolubilized in 9 μl of 1% bovine serum albumin (BSA)/0.05% Tween 20 in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and two 2-μl 0.05% Tween 20 in PBS and four 2-μl water washes with air gaps in between. Once the venting port is closed, silver A and B mix and flow through the channels. Right: Sequence of flow through test cassette. From the inlet, fluids move through each detection zone sequentially, then flowing into a waste pad where blood sample and reagents are collected without any fluids exiting the chip. The power-free vacuum chamber connects to the cassette outlet, drawing fluids from the inlet toward the waste pad. (D) Comparison of features of conventional ELISA (6) versus the dongle in terms of methods and cost for each main module required for the diagnostic test.
Tassaneewan Laksanasopin et al., Sci Transl Med 2015;7:273re1
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