SMART-LAMP: A Smartphone-Operated Handheld Device for Real-Time Colorimetric Point-of-Care Diagnosis of Infectious Diseases via Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification
Juan García-Bernalt Diego,
Pedro Fernández-Soto,
Sergio Márquez-Sánchez,
Daniel Santos Santos,
Begoña Febrer-Sendra,
Beatriz Crego-Vicente,
Juan Luis Muñoz-Bellido,
Moncef Belhassen-García,
Juan M. Corchado Rodríguez,
Antonio Muro
Affiliations
Juan García-Bernalt Diego
Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Group (e-INTRO), Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca-Research Centre for Tropical Diseases at the University of Salamanca (IBSAL-CIETUS), Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Pedro Fernández-Soto
Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Group (e-INTRO), Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca-Research Centre for Tropical Diseases at the University of Salamanca (IBSAL-CIETUS), Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Sergio Márquez-Sánchez
BISITE Research Group, University of Salamanca, Calle Espejo s/n. Edificio Multiusos I+D+i, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Daniel Santos Santos
BISITE Research Group, University of Salamanca, Calle Espejo s/n. Edificio Multiusos I+D+i, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Begoña Febrer-Sendra
Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Group (e-INTRO), Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca-Research Centre for Tropical Diseases at the University of Salamanca (IBSAL-CIETUS), Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Beatriz Crego-Vicente
Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Group (e-INTRO), Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca-Research Centre for Tropical Diseases at the University of Salamanca (IBSAL-CIETUS), Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Juan Luis Muñoz-Bellido
Microbiology and Parasitology Service, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de Salamanca, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Moncef Belhassen-García
Internal Medicine Service, Infectious Diseases Section, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de Salamanca, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Juan M. Corchado Rodríguez
BISITE Research Group, University of Salamanca, Calle Espejo s/n. Edificio Multiusos I+D+i, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Antonio Muro
Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Group (e-INTRO), Biomedical Research Institute of Salamanca-Research Centre for Tropical Diseases at the University of Salamanca (IBSAL-CIETUS), Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Salamanca, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
Nucleic acid amplification diagnostics offer outstanding features of sensitivity and specificity. However, they still lack speed and robustness, require extensive infrastructure, and are neither affordable nor user-friendly. Thus, they have not been extensively applied in point-of-care diagnostics, particularly in low-resource settings. In this work, we have combined the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) technology with a handheld portable device (SMART-LAMP) developed to perform real-time isothermal nucleic acid amplification reactions, based on simple colorimetric measurements, all of which are Bluetooth-controlled by a dedicated smartphone app. We have validated its diagnostic utility regarding different infectious diseases, including Schistosomiasis, Strongyloidiasis, and COVID-19, and analyzed clinical samples from suspected COVID-19 patients. Finally, we have proved that the combination of long-term stabilized LAMP master mixes, stored and transported at room temperature with our developed SMART-LAMP device, provides an improvement towards true point-of-care diagnosis of infectious diseases in settings with limited infrastructure. Our proposal could be easily adapted to the diagnosis of other infectious diseases.
