Far from any lab, paper bits find illness

September 29, 2011 | Source: New York Times
Diagnostics for All

DFA devices cost pennies to manufacture and a single sheet of paper can yield multiple devices at various dimensions. (Credit: DFA)

Diagnostics for All has created a stamp-size test for liver damage that only requires a single drop of blood, takes 15 minutes, can be read by an untrained eye, and could cost less than a penny, replacing tests that cost $50,000.

The initial target audience: AIDS patients with tuberculosis who must take powerful cocktails of drugs that may damage the liver.

A second test checks for milk spoilage caused by bacteria.

DFA is a non-profit enterprise fusing biotechnology and microfluidics, dedicated to creating low-cost, easy-to-use, point-of-care diagnostics designed specifically for the 60% of the developing world that lives beyond the reach of urban hospitals and medical infrastructures.