Programa de Pós-graduação em Bioinformática (PPg-Bioinfo), Instituto Metrópole Digital (IMD), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Natal, Brazil.
Departamento de Bioquímica, Laboratório de Sistemas Metabólicos e Bioinformática (LASIS), Centro de Biociências, UFRN, Natal, Brazil.
PLoS One. 2020 Oct 15;15(10):e0240536. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0240536. eCollection 2020.
Nucleic acid detection by electrophoresis is still a quick and accessible technique for many diagnosis methods, primarily at research laboratories or at the point of care units. Standard protocols detect DNA/RNA molecules through specific bound chemical dyes using a UV-transilluminator or UV-photo documentation system. However, the acquisition costs and availability of these devices, mainly the ones with photography and internet connection capabilities, can be prohibitive, especially in developing countries public health units. Also, ultraviolet radiation is a common additional risk factor to professionals that use electrophoresis-based nucleic acid detection. With that in mind, this work describes the development of a low-cost DNA/RNA detection smart system capable of obtaining qualitative and semi-quantitative data from gel analysis. The proposed device explores the visible light absorption range of commonly used DNA/RNA dyes using readily available parts, and simple manufacturing processes, such as light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and 3D impression. By applying IoT techniques, our system covers a wide range of color spectrum in order to detect bands from various commercially used dyes, using Bluetooth communication and a smartphone for hardware control, image capturing, and sharing. The project also enables process scalability and has low manufacturing and maintenance costs. The use of LEDs at the visible spectrum can achieve very reproducible images, providing a high potential for rapid and point-of-care diagnostics as well as applications in several fields such as healthcare, agriculture, and aquaculture.
通过电泳进行核酸检测仍然是许多诊断方法的快速、可及的技术，主要在研究实验室或护理点单位使用。标准方案通过使用紫外线透射仪或紫外线照片记录系统，利用特定结合的化学染料检测 DNA/RNA 分子。然而，这些设备的获取成本和可用性，主要是具有摄影和互联网连接功能的设备，在发展中国家的公共卫生单位可能是昂贵的。此外，紫外线辐射是使用基于电泳的核酸检测的专业人员的常见附加风险因素。有鉴于此，这项工作描述了一种低成本的 DNA/RNA 检测智能系统的开发，该系统能够从凝胶分析中获得定性和半定量数据。该设备利用常见的 DNA/RNA 染料的可见光吸收范围，使用现成的部件和简单的制造工艺，如发光二极管（LED）和 3D 打印。通过应用物联网技术，我们的系统涵盖了广泛的光谱范围，以便使用蓝牙通信和智能手机进行硬件控制、图像捕获和共享，从各种商业上使用的染料中检测到条带。该项目还实现了可扩展性，并具有低成本的制造和维护成本。在可见光谱中使用 LED 可以实现非常可重复的图像，为快速护理点诊断以及医疗保健、农业和水产养殖等多个领域的应用提供了很高的潜力。
