Scientists at Imperial College London alongside DNA Electronics, have developed a USB stick capable of testing and detecting the HIV virus within a couple of minutes.
The device, which uses a mobile phone chip, just needs small sample of blood. This is placed onto a spot on the USB stick. If any HIV virus is present in the sample, this triggers a change in acidity which the chip transforms into an electrical signal. This is sent to the USB stick, which produces the result in a programme on a computer or electronic device.
According to them, the test results can be gotten in less than 30mins and the results are usually very accurate.
The presence of this technology would aid in different ways in regards to HIV treatments. Those living with the HIV virus could use it to monitor the level of the HIV virus in ones blood stream, thus monitoring the progress of the patients treatment. HIV patients on anti-retroviral drugs could also use this tech gadget to monitor their progress to know if the anti-retroviral drugs are keeping the HIV level down or whether the virus has developed a resistance to the drugs.
The device, which uses a mobile phone chip, just needs small sample of blood. This is placed onto a spot on the USB stick. If any HIV virus is present in the sample, this triggers a change in acidity which the chip transforms into an electrical signal. This is sent to the USB stick, which produces the result in a programme on a computer or electronic device.
According to them, the test results can be gotten in less than 30mins and the results are usually very accurate.
The presence of this technology would aid in different ways in regards to HIV treatments. Those living with the HIV virus could use it to monitor the level of the HIV virus in ones blood stream, thus monitoring the progress of the patients treatment. HIV patients on anti-retroviral drugs could also use this tech gadget to monitor their progress to know if the anti-retroviral drugs are keeping the HIV level down or whether the virus has developed a resistance to the drugs.
The
presence of such technology could allow patients to monitor HIV levels
at home with the disposable device in much the same way diabetics do
with blood sugar. It could also prove valuable to those in remote
locations who don’t have immediate access to medical care.
People living in remote regions and who doesn't have access to testing facilities would find this piece of tech of extreme importance.
Tags:
USB HIV virus tester, How to use a USB flash and test for HIV virus.