Researchers Develop Device for Common Kidney Test that Processes Results in Five Minutes

Researchers from University of California- Los Angeles have developed a portable device that can conduct lab-tests on urine samples and send the test report via smartphone to healthcare providers in less than 5 minutes. The device could accelerate disease diagnosis and reduce the number of visits to the hospital.

The portable device weighs about a third of a pound and can determine the levels of albumin in a patients' urine sample.

Albumin is a protein that shouldn't be present in urine. A healthy kidney doesn't let any albumin pass into the urine.

People with diabetes or kidney diseases sometimes have to provide multiple samples of urine to test the levels of albumin. The new device takes just about five minutes to conduct the test and researchers estimate that the cost of the device could be around $50 to $100 per unit.

"Albumin testing is frequently done to assess kidney damage, especially for diabetes patients. This device provides an extremely convenient platform for chronic patients at home or in remote locations where cell phones work," said Aydogan Ozcan, a professor of electrical engineering and bioengineering at UCLA.

The device has two tubes with one containing a control liquid and the other for carrying urine samples with fluorescent dyes. The device projects a beam of visible light through both tubes which is then captured by a smartphone camera, according to a news release. 

The data is processed in less than a second by an android application. The tests results are then sent to the healthcare provider. Researchers said that the device can detect albumin levels with accuracy within 10 micrograms per millilitre.  

The study was published in the journal Lab on a Chip.