Low-Cost, Point-of-Care Paper-Based Microfluidic Diagnostics for Improving the Identification and Treatment of High-Risk Pregnancies in Resource-Limited Rural Settings

To improve rural health care for expecting mothers and newborns, Diagnostics For All (DFA) proposes to develop two accurate, low-cost (<$0.10) postage stamp-sized paper-based diagnostics for expecting mothers and newborns that will be used to detect - and enable proper treatment of - (i) anemia and hyper/hypoglycemia and (ii) hypertensive disorders. These point-of-care diagnostics require only a drop of blood or urine and require no additional steps beyond applying the sample. This means that they can be utilized by minimally-trained individuals in communities or clinics in rural settings to prevent unnecessary deaths during pregnancy and childbirth and improve the health of mothers and newborns through early detection of high-risk pregnancies and better patient management.