Low-cost plug and play photochemistry reactor

Abstract

Polymerization-based amplification (PBA) uses a visible-light photopolymerization reaction for rapid, low-cost signal amplification and colorimetric detection in disease diagnostics. PBA is particularly useful for point-of-care testing (POCT) in the developing world where laboratory infrastructure and access to advanced technologies may be limited. To date, PBA has required expensive (∼5K USD), desktop-based light sources to drive these photopolymerization reactions, which has limited its use in limited-resource areas and for POCT applications. Here, we present a portable, lightweight, and low-cost device that can generate light of the intensity and wavelengths required to perform the PBA reactions rapidly (<100 s) with minimal energy consumption. We developed analog and digital versions of the device that meet these criteria and can operate on their own without the requirement of a computer to run necessary software. Lastly, they both have the added functionality to dim the intensity of the LED to allow customization of the reaction conditions to the needs of individual assays. Keywords: POCT, Arduino, Diagnostics, LEDs