Johns Hopkins Develops Point-Of-Care Test for Chlamydia

A new low-cost point-of-care test for chlamydia that can be performed in conjunction with a smartphone has been developed by researchers at Johns Hopkins University.

Details about the test were presented at the American Association of Clinical Chemistry annual conference in late July.

Currently, most chlamydia testing is performed through nucleic acid amplification testing, or NAAT. Although the test is extremely accurate, it is too complicated to provide in a point-ofcare format. Chlamydia has no symptoms initially, but it leads to pelvic inflammatory disease in about a third of all cases because it goes undiagnosed, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new test platform, known as mobiLab, also employs NAAT technology, but in a point-ofcare platform that's about the size of a coffee mug. It requires a specimen swab and a microfluidics cartridge to perform an assay. Test data can be processed via a specialized smartphone app.

The cost per test is about $2, Johns Hopkins officials said. That compares to the current $10 per test cost using traditional NAAT technology. The hope is that the lower price and the convenience of the test could drive up test rates for chlamydia if the mobiLab ever makes it to market.

"We now have these pretty accurate, sensitive, and specific molecular assays to detect very few numbers of organisms in biological samples," said Dong Jin Shin, one of the abstract's authors and a doctorate student at Johns Hopkins, in a statement. "But a lot of these technologies are confined to being used in centralized lab settings. If we're able to bring molecular diagnostic technology closer to the clinic and deliver accurate results to clinicians sooner, then we'll be able to improve our standard of care for patients with chlamydia while also saving costs."

It remains to be seen if the mobiLab will come to market anytime soon. Unlike laboratory developed tests, all point-of-care assays require review and approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Takeaway: A point-of-care test for chlamydia is in development and could eventually reach market.