Global collaboration gives rise to 3D printed field test kit
A three-cornered collaboration between South Australia, Texas and Ethiopia is using 3D printed technology and design innovation to efficiently diagnose a deadly disease that infects a million people every year. -Jim Plouffe The kit to diagnose leishmaniasis is being trialled this month by the Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as part of a program to revolutionise the way diseases are tested and treated. Working with Austin-based infectious disease virtual incubator PandemicTech and the New Venture Institute (NVI) at Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, Dr Endalamaw Gadisa has been able to quickly iterate his knowledge of a better way to test for leishmaniasis into a practical and cost-effective design. Leishmaniasis is a parasitic disease spread through the bites of sandflies. The World Health Organisation estimates that up to 1 million new cases and 30,000 deaths occur annually, usually among malnourished people living in poverty and or unsanitary conditions. Although it can lead to ulcers and death, leishmanias is curable if diagnosed and treated early. Addis Ababa-based Dr Gadisa identified several difficulties in testing for the disease in Ethopia, leading to the need for more effective and practical diagnostic equipment. The difficulties with the current system include the cost of a liquid medium (reagent) used for testing, the fragile test tubes used to store the reagent, the challenge of viewing the samples under available microscopes, and the length of time it takes to get results, which can be more than a week. He developed a design for a test tube that requires significantly less reagent (10 microliters versus 25 millilitres) and could provide results in as few as three days, but he lacked the ability to build his prototype in Addis Ababa. Andrew Nerlinger, the director of PandemicTech in Austin, offered to work with Dr Gadisa as one of the incubator’s […]
