Rethinking the Design of Low-Cost Point-of-Care Diagnostic Devices
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Date
2017
Authors
Kimani, Faith W.
Mwangi, Samuel M.
Kwasa, Benjamin J.
Kusow, Abdi M.
Ngugi, Benjamin K.
Chen, Jiahao
Liu, Xinyu
Cademartiri, Rebecca
Thuo, Martin M.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI
Abstract
Reducing the global diseases burden requires effective diagnosis and treatment. In the
developing world, accurate diagnosis can be the most expensive and time-consuming aspect of
health care. Healthcare cost can, however, be reduced by use of affordable rapid diagnostic tests
(RDTs). In the developed world, low-cost RDTs are being developed in many research laboratories;
however, they are not being equally adopted in the developing countries. This disconnect points
to a gap in the design philosophy, where parameterization of design variables ignores the most
critical component of the system, the point-of-use stakeholders (e.g., doctors, nurses and patients).
Herein, we demonstrated that a general focus on reducing cost (i.e., “low-cost”), rather than efficiency
and reliability is misguided by the assumption that poverty reduces the value individuals place
on their well-being. A case study of clinicians in Kenya showed that “zero-cost” is a low-weight
parameter for point-of-use stakeholders, while reliability and standardization are crucial. We therefore
argue that a user-driven, value-addition systems-engineering approach is needed for the design of
RDTs to enhance adoption and translation into the field.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
Low cost, Diagnostics, Technology adoption, Value-added design, Health care, Rapid diagnostics
Citation
Micromachines 2017, 8, 317; doi:10.3390/mi8110317