Hand-Powered Point-of-Care: Centrifugal Microfluidic Platform for Urine Routine Examination (μCUREX)

Urinalysis is one of the simplest and most common medical tests in modern cities. With the assistance of professional technicians and equipment, people in metropolitan areas can effortlessly acquire information about their physiological conditions from traditional clinical laboratories. However, the threshold, including precise benchtop equipment and well-trained personnel, still remains a considerable dilemma for residents in healthcare-poor areas. Hence, it is a crucial and urgent topic to develop a smart and affordable widget to address this challenge. To improve the healthcare rights of residents, we proposed a disposable centrifugal microfluidic urine routine examination platform (named mu CUREX) actuated with a modified hand-powered fan. Two parts of urinalysis (sediment test and chemical strip test) were integrated into the mu CUREX disc. The influence on sedimentation by variant hand-powered manipulation was simulated using COMSOL. As a result, more than 70% of the sediment can be collected. Moreover, the color change of chemical strip papers (indicators for glucose, pH, protein, and occult blood) was recorded with a 3D-printed studio and analyzed after reaction with chemical-spiked and pH-adjusted artificial and human urine specimens. The whole process can be completed within 10 min, with only 200 mu L of urine needed. In conclusion, we successfully constructed an ultra-low-cost point-of-care platform for urinalysis in extremely resource-poor settings. The handy size, high affordability, and user-friendliness of the mu CUREX disc provide strong potential and feasibility in solving problems in resource-poor settings. Furthermore, we highly expect the mu CUREX platform to improve the level of healthcare in resource-limited areas.

Automated summary

Urinalysis is a simple and common medical test in modern cities, but it remains a challenge for residents in healthcare-poor areas. Therefore, developing a smart and affordable widget to address this challenge is crucial. The proposed mu CUREX platform successfully provides an ultra-low-cost solution for urinalysis in resource-poor settings.