In the developing world, lack of convenient and accurate tools that can detect and diagnose diseases and other health problems means that many health risks remain undetected or receive inappropriate treatment.

Dr. Yager's team, in collaboration with research groups from private industry as well as the nonprofit sector,  is working to develop a low-cost, easy-to-use device that will rapidly test blood for a range of health problems prevalent in developing countries, such as bacterial infections, nutritional status, and HIV-related illnesses.

The project team is working to produce a platform diagnostic system – the DxBox – that will consist of two components:  

•  A disposable test or "lab" card, about the size of a credit card that contains all the microfluidic circuitry need to perform as many as 20 different tests using a small sample of blood.
  
• A portable reader, about the size of a hand-held computer, designed for easy use in remote locations as well as in hospitals and clinics.

Initially, the project team is focusing on developing a lab card and reader that, using a drop or two of blood as a sample, will allow differential diagnosis of 6 causes of rapid-onset fevers (such as malaria and dengue) that infect tens of millions of people in developing countries each year. During 2008 the project team plans to produce prototype DxBoxes and lab cards that perform both immunoassays and nucleic acid assays for a panel of the fever-causing diseases. In years four and five, the team will optimize performance of the system and investigate additional innovative technologies that may further enhance performance of the DxBox platform.