Micro-a-fluidics ELISA for Rapid CD4 Cell Count at the Point-of-Care

HIV has become one of the most devastating pathogens in human history. Despite fast progress in HIV-related basic research, antiretroviral therapy (ART) remains the most effective method to save AIDS patients' lives. Unfortunately, ART cannot be universally accessed, especially in developing countries, due to the lack of effective treatment monitoring diagnostics. Here, we present an inexpensive, rapid and portable micro-a-fluidic platform, which can streamline the process of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in a fully automated manner for CD4 cell count. The micro-a-fluidic CD4 cell count is achieved by eliminating operational fluid flow via “moving the substrate”, as opposed to “flowing liquid” in traditional ELISA or microfluidic methods. This is the first demonstration of capturing and detecting cells from unprocessed whole blood using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in a microfluidic channel. Combined with cell phone imaging, the presented micro-a-fluidic ELISA platform holds great promise for offering rapid CD4 cell count to scale up much needed ART in resource-constrained settings. The developed system can be extended to multiple areas for ELISA-related assays.Wallace H. Coulter Foundation (Young Investigator Award)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (RO1A1081534)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (RO1AI093282)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (U54EB15408)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (R21AI087107)Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) (U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity Cooperative Agreements DAMD17-02-2-0006)Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) (U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity Cooperative Agreements W81XWH-07-2-0011)Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) (U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity Cooperative Agreements W81XWH-09-2-0001)United States. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (research grant)United States. Army. Telemedicine & Advanced Technology Research CenterBrigham and Women's Hospital (Brigham Research Institute for the Bright Futures Award)Brigham and Women's Hospital (Biomedical Research Institute Translatable Technologies & Care Innovation Award