Ever Heard Of an HIV Test On A USB Stick?

If not, then here is all you need to know. A team of scientists, physicians, and engineers recently came together to develop a new kind of HIV test over a USB stick. The complete team carried out this research at the DNA Electronics (DNAe) and Imperial College London. It takes in a drop of blood for HIV detection then builds an electrical signal that can easily be read by handheld devices, laptops, as well as computers. The device employs a mobile phone chip that just needs a small blood sample that gets placed over a specific spot on the USB stick. 

 

If an HIV virus is detected in the sample, the acidity of the sample starts changing, this change is then transformed into an electrical signal. The signal is then transmitted to the USB stick that generates the result in the program being showcased over your electronic device or computer. During this research, they undertook 991 samples of blood and the accuracy of the test came out to be 95 percent. The average time for every result was 20.8 minutes. 

 

 

 

 

The team is now working to find out if the device can be used for other kinds of viral tests like that of hepatitis or viral or any serious disease. The technology has been developed in association with the Imperial spinout company named DNA Electronics that has been using the very same technology for the development of a device that can detect fungal and bacterial species and resistance to antibiotic. This USB device that has been developed can be used by HIV patients as well for their own treatment. The technology will be more effective for treatment of patients who have been struggling with it in remote locations.

 

The technology also keeps a check on the volume of HIV viruses that present in blood sample. It is an important step in monitoring treatment of the patient. The present most advanced treatment of this disease reduces the HIV virus count to zero in patient’s blood. But, there are cases where medication stops affecting the patient as the virus develops resistance to disease. The first sign of this is the rise in virus count in bloodstream, the device can really help in finding that.