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Medical Diagnostic Device Made from Paper is Powered Only by User's Touch

A new paper-based diagnostic device developed at Purdue University  detects biomarkers and identifies diseases by performing electrochemical analyses - powered only by the user's touch - and reads out the color-coded test results, making it easy for non-experts to understand. Self-powered, paper-based electrochemical devices (or SPEDs) are designed for sensitive diagnostics at the 'point-of-care' - when care is delivered to patients in regions with limited access to sophisticated medical equipment. "We hope these devices will serve untrained people located in remote villages or military bases to test for a variety of diseases without requiring any source of electricity, clean water, or additional equipment," said Ramses V. Martinez, an assistant professor of industrial and biomedical engineering at Purdue University.

Topics:
Diagnostics Electronics & Computers Materials Medical Power

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    Transcript

    00:00:01 - We have designed self-powered paper-based diagnostic tools. The top layer contains four electrochemical test areas and 10 colorimetric test zones. On the bottom there is a triboelectric generator that the user can tap to generate the peak voltage that is transferred into this chip. These devices can be considered as portable laboratories that a doctor can use in remote locations in order to assess or diagnose malnutrition problems,

    00:00:34 kidney or liver diseases, and even the quality of drinkable water. We develop a machine vision algorithm that allows the user to take a picture of the device after doing a test and getting immediate results of the diagnostics just by identifying the colors on the device. Paper is a very good substrate to make low cost diagnostic devices. It is inexpensive, it is very easy to manufacture and it's readily disposed by burning.