Point-of-Care Diagnostics for the Developing World

People living in the developing world suffer greatly from many illnesses, many of them caused by infectious agents. These people usually do not have access to stable power or clean water, let alone the best diagnostic tools. What can we do to bring the high-tech diagnostic methods used in the developed world to those with fewer resources? Dr. Paul Yager, Professor and Acting Chair in the Department of Bioengineering, explains how microfluidics, a new technology for manipulating small volumes of fluids, is enabling the development of a small portable and inexpensive system for detecting pathogens far from the centralized laboratory. This system could soon have an impact on global health.

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