Fluorescent on-site detection of multiple pathogens using smartphone-based portable device with paper-based isothermal amplification chip

The development of cost-effective, portable, and ease-of-use sensing system for on-site genetic diagnostics is highly desirable for pathogen screening and infectious disease diagnosis. This study develops (1) a paper-based biochip which is able to integrate the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) protocols for simultaneous detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp., and Staphylococcus aureus, and (2) a stand-alone smartphone-based portable device which can control exactly 65 °C for isothermal amplification as well as collect and analyze the thus generated fluorescence signals. The reported sensing system has been successfully demonstrated for foodborne pathogen detection with a limit of detection of 2.8 × 10^-5 ng μL^-1. Spiked milk samples with concentration as low as 10 CFU mL^-1 were successfully determined within 4 h, demonstrating the practicality of the reported sensing system in the fields. The reported sensing system featuring simplicity and reliability is ideally suited for genetic diagnostics in low resource settings.