Improving the Sensitivity and Functionality of Mobile Webcam-Based Fluorescence Detectors for Point-of-Care Diagnostics in Global Health
Resource-poor countries and regions require effective, low-cost diagnostic devices for accurate identification and diagnosis of health conditions. Optical detection technologies used for many types of biological and clinical analysis can play a significant role in addressing this need, but must be s...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2016-05-01
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| Series: | Diagnostics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/6/2/19 |
| _version_ | 1811304320132448256 |
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| author | Reuven Rasooly Hugh Alan Bruck Joshua Balsam Ben Prickril Miguel Ossandon Avraham Rasooly |
| author_facet | Reuven Rasooly Hugh Alan Bruck Joshua Balsam Ben Prickril Miguel Ossandon Avraham Rasooly |
| author_sort | Reuven Rasooly |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Resource-poor countries and regions require effective, low-cost diagnostic devices for accurate identification and diagnosis of health conditions. Optical detection technologies used for many types of biological and clinical analysis can play a significant role in addressing this need, but must be sufficiently affordable and portable for use in global health settings. Most current clinical optical imaging technologies are accurate and sensitive, but also expensive and difficult to adapt for use in these settings. These challenges can be mitigated by taking advantage of affordable consumer electronics mobile devices such as webcams, mobile phones, charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras, lasers, and LEDs. Low-cost, portable multi-wavelength fluorescence plate readers have been developed for many applications including detection of microbial toxins such as C. Botulinum A neurotoxin, Shiga toxin, and S. aureus enterotoxin B (SEB), and flow cytometry has been used to detect very low cell concentrations. However, the relatively low sensitivities of these devices limit their clinical utility. We have developed several approaches to improve their sensitivity presented here for webcam based fluorescence detectors, including (1) image stacking to improve signal-to-noise ratios; (2) lasers to enable fluorescence excitation for flow cytometry; and (3) streak imaging to capture the trajectory of a single cell, enabling imaging sensors with high noise levels to detect rare cell events. These approaches can also help to overcome some of the limitations of other low-cost optical detection technologies such as CCD or phone-based detectors (like high noise levels or low sensitivities), and provide for their use in low-cost medical diagnostics in resource-poor settings. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T08:03:59Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c399e43e57164b718960dcce570a2de8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-4418 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T08:03:59Z |
| publishDate | 2016-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Diagnostics |
| spelling | doaj.art-c399e43e57164b718960dcce570a2de82022-12-22T02:55:13ZengMDPI AGDiagnostics2075-44182016-05-01621910.3390/diagnostics6020019diagnostics6020019Improving the Sensitivity and Functionality of Mobile Webcam-Based Fluorescence Detectors for Point-of-Care Diagnostics in Global HealthReuven Rasooly0Hugh Alan Bruck1Joshua Balsam2Ben Prickril3Miguel Ossandon4Avraham Rasooly5Western Regional Research Center, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Albany, CA 94706, USADepartment of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland College Park (UMCP), College Park, MD 20742, USADivision of Chemistry and Toxicology Devices, Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health, FDA, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USANational Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD 208503, USANational Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD 208503, USANational Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD 208503, USAResource-poor countries and regions require effective, low-cost diagnostic devices for accurate identification and diagnosis of health conditions. Optical detection technologies used for many types of biological and clinical analysis can play a significant role in addressing this need, but must be sufficiently affordable and portable for use in global health settings. Most current clinical optical imaging technologies are accurate and sensitive, but also expensive and difficult to adapt for use in these settings. These challenges can be mitigated by taking advantage of affordable consumer electronics mobile devices such as webcams, mobile phones, charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras, lasers, and LEDs. Low-cost, portable multi-wavelength fluorescence plate readers have been developed for many applications including detection of microbial toxins such as C. Botulinum A neurotoxin, Shiga toxin, and S. aureus enterotoxin B (SEB), and flow cytometry has been used to detect very low cell concentrations. However, the relatively low sensitivities of these devices limit their clinical utility. We have developed several approaches to improve their sensitivity presented here for webcam based fluorescence detectors, including (1) image stacking to improve signal-to-noise ratios; (2) lasers to enable fluorescence excitation for flow cytometry; and (3) streak imaging to capture the trajectory of a single cell, enabling imaging sensors with high noise levels to detect rare cell events. These approaches can also help to overcome some of the limitations of other low-cost optical detection technologies such as CCD or phone-based detectors (like high noise levels or low sensitivities), and provide for their use in low-cost medical diagnostics in resource-poor settings.http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/6/2/19webcamsCCD camerasmobile phonesfluorescence imagingflow cytometryrare cellsresource-poor settingsimage enhancementbackground subtractionpixel binningglobal health |
| spellingShingle | Reuven Rasooly Hugh Alan Bruck Joshua Balsam Ben Prickril Miguel Ossandon Avraham Rasooly Improving the Sensitivity and Functionality of Mobile Webcam-Based Fluorescence Detectors for Point-of-Care Diagnostics in Global Health Diagnostics webcams CCD cameras mobile phones fluorescence imaging flow cytometry rare cells resource-poor settings image enhancement background subtraction pixel binning global health |
| title | Improving the Sensitivity and Functionality of Mobile Webcam-Based Fluorescence Detectors for Point-of-Care Diagnostics in Global Health |
| title_full | Improving the Sensitivity and Functionality of Mobile Webcam-Based Fluorescence Detectors for Point-of-Care Diagnostics in Global Health |
| title_fullStr | Improving the Sensitivity and Functionality of Mobile Webcam-Based Fluorescence Detectors for Point-of-Care Diagnostics in Global Health |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improving the Sensitivity and Functionality of Mobile Webcam-Based Fluorescence Detectors for Point-of-Care Diagnostics in Global Health |
| title_short | Improving the Sensitivity and Functionality of Mobile Webcam-Based Fluorescence Detectors for Point-of-Care Diagnostics in Global Health |
| title_sort | improving the sensitivity and functionality of mobile webcam based fluorescence detectors for point of care diagnostics in global health |
| topic | webcams CCD cameras mobile phones fluorescence imaging flow cytometry rare cells resource-poor settings image enhancement background subtraction pixel binning global health |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4418/6/2/19 |
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