Point of Care Diagnostics Studies
i) TB LAM Study
Collaborators: Global Good/ Intellectual ventures lab, IDRC, UCSF
Objectives
- Evaluating a high sensitivity, urine-based Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) for Tuberculosis. The aim is to increase the sensitivity and specificity of Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) assay for plasma & urine.
- Developing a Cell-Free DNA based assay for TB diagnosis in resource limited settings
Both platforms are being compared to Genexpert and sputum culture as the gold standard.
ii) Evaluation of photo-thermal spectroscopy enhanced rapid diagnostic test for plasmodium falciparum malaria
Objectives:
Evaluating a highly sensitive HRP-2 and pLDH based prototype Rapid Diagnostic Tests for malaria (mRDTs). These prototype RDTs are designed to detect low parasitemia, such as occurs in asymptomatic malaria infections. Testing is being done in low and high transmission areas, with DNA PCR/ Microscopy as the comparative gold standard.
