New smartphone-controlled microfluidic device helps detect flu quickly

Recently, a research group led by Prof. Liu Yong and Prof. Zhu Ling from the Hefei Institute of Physical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, developed a spatial encoding smartphone-integrated platform (SEDphone) with a centrifugal microfluidic disk to detect influenza virus subtypes.

The research results were published in Sensors and actuators: B. Chemical.

Influenza virus poses a serious threat to public health, causing annual epidemics with high morbidity and mortality. In addition, influenza viruses exhibit high mutation rates and manifest in multiple subtypes, which require different clinical intervention strategies. Therefore, there is an urgent need for an accurate, rapid, and portable solution to distinguish different influenza virus subtypes, control virus spread, and guide clinical treatment decisions.

In this study, scientists developed a new method combining two advanced technologies, Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) and CRISPR/Cas12a, to rapidly and accurately detect different types of influenza viruses. This technique amplifies target sequences with LAMP and detects them using the trans-cleavage activity of CRISPR/Cas12a, thereby cleaving reporter probes and releasing fluorescent signals. This method is highly sensitive and minimizes false positives.

To facilitate the use of different targets, the researchers developed a versatile model that can target different influenza strains. Once optimized, this method can identify five influenza types (H1N1, H3N2, H5N1, H7N9, and influenza B) within 45 minutes, even at very low virus concentrations (10 copies/µl).

In addition, to achieve integrated support for LAMP amplification and CRISPR detection, the researchers created a centrifugal microfluidic chip with spatial encoding function. They also developed a portable test device called SEDphone, which is controlled by a smartphone. This device can amplify and detect multiple types of influenza viruses at the same time.

By using a dual temperature zone, they solved the temperature differences needed for both technologies. Tests with clinical samples showed that this method and the SEDphone device are effective in quickly identifying different influenza subtypes.

“Our research offers a new way to quickly and accurately detect various pathogens in real time. This method can be used in fever clinics or at home, which helps reduce the risk of unnecessary cross-infection and relieves the burden on healthcare systems,” said Dr. Zhu Cancan, a member of the team.

Provided by Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences