7 diagnostic devices to boost healthcare in the developing world

6. Pregnancy test-like paper strip diagnoses Ebola

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers developed a paper-based test that could quickly diagnose Ebola and other hemorrhagic fevers.

The test is a paper strip and works similarly to a pregnancy test. Using multicolored nanoparticles, the MIT strips are color-coded to distinguish between several different diseases. The strips are made of silver triangular nanoparticles that can change colors depending on their sizes.

Red, orange and green nanoparticles are linked to antibodies that recognize Ebola, dengue fever and yellow fever. As blood serum from a patient flows through the strip, viral proteins that match the antibodies on the stripes will get caught, and the nanoparticles will be visible to the naked eye. If a user is color blind, a smartphone camera could help distinguish the colors.

“When we run a patient sample through the strip, if you see an orange band you know they have yellow fever, if it shows up as a red band you know they have Ebola, and if it shows up green then we know that they have dengue,” Kimberly Hamad-Schifferli, a visiting scientist in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering, said in a press release.

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