A Low-Cost, Point-of-Care Sickle Cell Anemia Screening Device for Use in Low and Middle-Income Countries

Abstract

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a common and life-threatening inherited blood disorder which can cause anemia, pain, organ damage, increased risk for infection, and reduced life expectancy. This disease is especially common in sub-Saharan Africa, where estimates suggest that the mortality rate among children is as high as 50–90% depending on the location. Despite this high mortality, universal screening and early intervention programs in high-income countries have proven to be effective at reducing the probability of death. The primary SCD diagnostic methods used in these areas, however, are expensive and resource-heavy. As a result, implementing SCD screening programs in sub-Saharan Africa has thus far been challenging, expensive, and limited only to small-scale programs. In order to address this need, this project is currently in the concept stage of designing a low-cost, easy-to-use, lateral flow sickle cell anemia diagnostic test to be used as a screening device in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Efforts have so far focused on finding sensitive and specific capture and detection antibody pairs targeting normal hemoglobin A and sickle cell hemoglobin S. In addition, progress has been made in testing different lateral flow device configurations in order to establish a design which meets the economic, usability, and reliability demands of a sickle cell screening device for use in LMICs.