Purdue Propelling Low-Cost Technology into Africa

R&D DIGEST

Having access to the most basic technologies is a luxury that inhabitants of Western countries often take for granted, but it's a fundamental need in the Third World. Paul Robinson, a professor at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN), is doing something about it. He is spearheading a project to develop and deliver inexpensive diagnostic devices to poor areas in Africa.

Robinson, a professor at Purdue's biomedical engineering and veterinary medicine schools, conceived of a low-cost flow cytometer that measures the blood's content of CD4 cells. These cells are an indicator of how strong an AIDS patient's immune system is. The key is that the device will be inexpensive to manufacture and will sharply reduce the cost of a CD4 test in Africa.

According to Robinson, a typical flow cytometer costs $30,000 to $50,000, and one used on a clinical scale can cost more than $100,000. However, such devices often conduct an array of tests including leukemia and lymphoma screening panels and DNA measurements. Robinson's cytometer will be used solely to obtain the blood's CD4 count, which is essential for the therapeutic monitoring of AIDS. He estimates that such a device would cost around $5000. This would reduce the price of the CD4 test from $10 per patient to between $0.25 and $0.50 per patient.

“There are other [so-called] low-cost CD4 technologies where the instrument is low cost, but the price of the test doesn't even come close to being low cost,” says Robinson. “That might work in Western countries, but it's not going to work in Africa.” He wants the technology to be so inexpensive that governments and medical facilities would feel compelled to use the test.

In Robinson's words, the concept of the device is manual and simplistic. Laser diodes, which are currently low cost and fairly high powered, are used instead of solid-state lasers. Analytical chips conduct the processing, eliminating the need for a computer. The lightweight, battery-operated device is rechargeable and has a universal serial bus (USB) connector so it can be hooked up to a computer, if necessary.

Because the flow cytometer would be used in remote regions, each instrument would be equipped with a global positioning system (GPS) device. It would monitor the patient's percentage of CD4, which could be transmitted to the physician for analysis.

The challenge in the device design is that it needs to be inexpensive while requiring only a small amount of energy to operate. It must be robust, reliable, and functional for a long period of time without needing routine care and repair from a technician. “We're trying to make it as bare bones as possible,” says Gary Durack, founder and chief technology officer of i-Cyt Visionary Biosciences (Champaign, IL). Durack is codirector of the project. “The simpler something is, the more robust and reliable it can be.” Another challenge will be to develop the device so that it can be operated by people that aren't highly experienced, he says.

Before building the prototype, the researchers must assess the cost of the components. Once a device is made, its real-world functionality will be evaluated: operation under extreme temperatures, humidity, and handling. “That'll have to happen somewhere in Africa, and Paul [Robinson] has been working hard to arrange the early field trials of the device,” says Durack.

Manufacturing hasn't started but Robinson is in discussions with potential partners. “We're looking to talk with anybody, because there are multiple parts to this equation in terms of reagents, materials, instruments, distribution and management pathways, and servicing,” he says.

In Africa alone, 20,000 instruments are needed. “It's a phenomenal problem,” says Robinson, who's been working with groups worldwide to move this effort forward. The Cytometry for Life program, a nonprofit group that Robinson began with others in the cytometry community, needs to raise $5 million to manufacture the technology and successfully deliver it to remote areas in Africa. If everything goes as planned, Robinson hopes to distribute the devices there early next year.

If the current project is successful, it's possible that the researchers will explore developing and introducing other low-cost technologies to remote regions worldwide.

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