A Cornell University-led team of engineers and nutritionists have devised a low-cost, rapid test for detecting iron and vitamin A deficiencies at the point of care.
"Vitamin A and iron deficiency affect more than one-third of the world's population. Problems resulting from these deficiencies—such as blindness, anemia and death, particularly among children and women—are a major public health challenge," says Saurabh Mehta, co-author of the team’s research paper published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The portable, lunchbox-sized system contains a blood sample test strip, like those used in monitoring diabetes. The diagnostic method utilizes multiple fluorescent markers and an antibody immunoassay within a single test. Within 15 minutes, the test can simultaneously quantify from the individual’s serum three key protein markers: ferritin for iron, retinol-binding protein for vitamin A, and C-reactive protein for inflammation status.
"The sampling process is similar to picking up iron among other metals," said first author Zhengda Lu.
The study reports sensitivities ranging from 80% to 100% even though the physiological range of the markers varies over five orders of magnitude.
The device is suitable for both resource-rich and resource-limited settings, and can be read by laptops or mobile devices.
"Doctors and health professionals have sought to reduce the burden of micronutrient deficiencies and their consequences, but it's difficult since we must detect them early on to have the largest impact," said Mehta. "Most developing countries don't have access to the needed, sophisticated tools to enable early diagnosis. This test has the potential to solve that."