Device for diagnosing kidney disease

2022: Announcement of a device for rapid diagnosis of kidney disease

In mid-July 2022, a portable medical device was released for monitoring and early detection of chronic kidney disease, which affects approximately 9% of the world's population. The device can be used to serve rural and remote patients, as well as patients with limited medical services.

An affordable device designed, designed and evaluated by Flinders University researchers can accurately measure patients' urine albumin levels, according to the results of a clinical trial conducted at Flinders Medical Center (FMC), a tertiary teaching hospital in Adelaide, South Australia.

Handheld device for rapid diagnosis of kidney disease released

The scientists used a 3D printed medical device to accurately measure albumin concentration in urine samples using an improved specified aggregation emission inducing biosensor (AIE). Elevated levels of albuminuria indicate that human kidneys are ineffective at filtering blood proteins.

In 2011-2012, approximately 1.7 million adults Australians had biomedical signs of chronic kidney disease (CKD), but this disease is still diagnosed extremely rarely. In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, CKD occurs in 18% of some populations according to to data the 2012-2013 Australian Bureau of Statistics biomedical research findings.

This device can also be adapted for potential monitoring of cancers, amyloid fibrils and other biomarkers of the disease, and the system itself can be used in the field. The device requires a digital camera, built-in printed circuit boards, one light source and access to software, and the system can be controlled by anyone, according to the developers, without the need for a clinical setting or an expert diagnostic laboratory.

{{citation 'Results of urine albumin levels measured by the system in light waves had a strong correlation with clinical scores of samples examined in South African pathology laboratories. A reliable portable device for accurate measurement of urine albumin can be distributed at test sites in settlements to reduce the need for patients with chronic kidney disease to regularly visit a hospital or clinic, said study co-author Flinders University Associate Professor Jordan Lee. }} The platform used in the evidence-based study was capable of detecting albumin in urine at high accuracy and low cost, making it a potential device for detecting and monitoring albuminuria levels in kidney disease. The project was funded by the Australia-China Science and Research Foundation through the Joint Personal Health Technology Research Centre, Department of Industry, Science, power and Resources of the Australian Government.^[1]

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