A platform for coupling of microfluidic devices and smartphones for point-of-care testing

SCHAUMBURG, FEDERICO; MACAGNO, J.; PUJATO, NAZARENA; PEVERENGO, LUZ; JUAN P. VIDOCEVICH,; GERLERO, GABRIEL S.; MARCIPAR, IVÁN; KLER, PABLO A.; BERLI, CLAUDIO L. A.

Congreso; III Brazil-Argentine Microfluidics Congress - VI Congreso de Microfluídica Argentina; 2022

The integration of microfluidics with smartphones is today the best alternative for point-of-caretesting (POCT), i.e. performing chemical and biological determinations in-situ and in real time.However, despite the efforts made in recent years, progress is still required on key aspects to makedevelopments more standardized and accessible to a wide variety of potential users and applica-tions. In this work, a free platform called appuente is described, which facilitates the integrationof microfluidic chips, smartphones and web servers. This platform allows rapid prototyping ofmobile applications capable of: i) identification and tracking of microfluidic chips, ii) guidanceand control of user actions, iii) intelligent imaging, iv) image processing, v) reporting of resultsand vi ) integration with the cloud. The platform also includes a web app for POCT microdevicedevelopers, to easily customize mobile apps and manage test data. This platform was tested with:a root elongation assay for the evaluation of pesticide toxicity, a lateral flow immunoassay for thedetection of leptospirosis and an ELISA test for the detection of congenital and chronic Chagasdisease.