Advances in the development and manufacture of biophotonic devices (Point of Care) with application to molecular diagnosis

Abstract

Technological developments in the area of disease diagnosis have always been key to preserving health. A very marked trend are the rapid and decentralized diagnoses, called Point of Care. This concept focuses on the idea of reducing a complete laboratory analysis in a small device without losings pecificity and sensitivity. In particular, we focus on the use of photonic and engineering technologies for the development and subsequent construction of Point of Care molecular detection devices, which allow rapid, efficient and low-cost detection of high-impact pathogens in the health area. The device excites the sample to be analyzed with a semiconductor laser,thus it triggers a spontaneous emission of the fluorophore bound to the specific probe. Under these conditions, a signal is registered and depending on this level, defines the case as positive or negative. All the analysisis done autonomously inside the developed device through an integrated control system and it is connected to a portable device to show the results wirelessly. This work shows and compares advances in the process of development, calibration, tuning and validation of these molecular diagnostic device prototypes.