eBioPhy: Bringing Rapid and Real-Time Diagnosis to Remote Locations

A lack of early diagnosis of pathogens is a major component inflating the rates of death in tropical countries, with malaria being recognized as the most devastating parasitic infection. eBioPhy (Electronic Biophysics) is a diagnostic platform that uses biochemical and biophysical principles, in combination with data and communication tools, to probe the presence of pathogens in biological samples. The platform aims to bring real-time diagnostics to remote locations where health services are rare. The novelty of this project is the multidisciplinary integration of fluorescence-based detection of pathogens, low-cost optical devices and usage of widely available smart phones to collect and analyze data. On the horizon is the use for many other pathogens, opening the door to widespread scaling. 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.