New test for Ebola dramatically cuts diagnosis time
Simple paper strip developed by MIT can diagnose Ebola and other fevers within 10 minutes
A new test from researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology cuts the time it takes to diagnose Ebola from at least a day or two, to just 10 minutes.
The device is a simple paper strip, similar to a pregnancy test. Not only can it rapidly diagnose Ebola, but also other haemorrhagic fevers such as yellow fever and dengue fever.
Time is of essence in Ebola diagnosis, to determine whether a patient requires immediate treatment and isolation, to prevent the disease from spreading further.
The current method of diagnosis involves a patient’s blood sample being sent to a lab, where advanced techniques are performed to detect genetic material from the Ebola virus. While this is very accurate, it takes at least a day or two to yield results.
Further, some areas of Africa where Ebola and other fevers are endemic have limited access to this kind of technology.
“For many hemorrhagic fever viruses, like West Nile and dengue and Ebola, and a lot of other ones in developing countries, like Argentine hemorrhagic fever and the Hantavirus diseases, there are just no rapid diagnostics at all,” says Lee Gehrke, a professor at MIT's Institute for Medical Engineering and Science who started developing the device with colleague Kimberly Hamad-Schifferli four years ago.