A Point-of-Care Device for Diagnosis of Meningitis in Immunosuppressed Patients: The Lab-on-a-Chip Approach

HIV continues to be a major global public health issue. In 2012, more than 10 million people in low-income countries living with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy. In resource-low countries, despite the access to highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), opportunistic infections are the most common ways to detect HIV. However, many of the neurological infections are difficult to diagnose because they require specific laboratory tests. This novel approach is merging the diagnosis of the most common infections to the central nervous system (CNS) with a portable point-of-care device, based on a microfluidic approach. The final goal is to produce a point-of-care device with the potential for mass production, with solid in-vitro evidence for performance. The device (lab-on-a-chip) is intended to be used in several areas; other global epidemiological scenarios offer the opportunity to apply this device in other settings. The fact that electricity is not needed to operate this device is a huge advantage over other equipment. This project is funded under a collaborative agreement between CONCYTEC (Peru's National Council for Science, Technology and Technological Innovation) and Grand Challenges Canada (funded by the Government of Canada) to support Stars in Global Health innovators based in Peru.