Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 grouping of students from the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California San Diego volition pass the summertime trying to curb the HIV epidemic inwards Tijuana, Mexico.
Two teams from UC San Diego’s Engineering World Health (EWH) pupil organization too Global TIES programme are combining forces this summertime to convey a device they created to monitor viral charge inwards HIV patients to a clinical setting inwards Tijuana, United Mexican States for testing.
The teams were tasked amongst edifice a low-cost HIV monitoring device for a infirmary inwards Mozambique. UC San Diego Health doctors Matt Strain too Davey Smith are advising both of the teams.
“Patients inwards the U.S.A. on HIV therapy are tested every iii to half-dozen months to brand surely their handling is even too then effective,” said Yajur Maker, Co-President of Engineering World Health too bioengineering undergraduate pupil at the Jacobs School. “This enables doctors to alter the patient’s therapy if the virus has perish resistant to the drugs beingness given.”
To found when the virus has perish resistant, the patient’s viral charge or the amount of virus acquaint inwards the blood, must last assessed.
“If a therapy is working, the viral charge goes down,” said Maker. “If the virus has perish resistant, it goes up.”
Viral charge examination equipment costs roughly $80,000, too $65 per test. The students from the Global TIES Open Viral Load (OVL) Team too EWH conduct maintain each developed paradigm viral charge testing devices that toll nether $2,000. The projected toll per examination is $5.
The 2 teams are combining forces to accept their completed devices to a clinic inwards Tijuana, United Mexican States for testing, amongst the assist of their advisors.
 |
| EWH Team |
“We’ll adopt the best components from each team’s pattern too contain them into a scheme that’s cook for champaign implementation,” said Maker.
The teams conduct maintain won over $31,000 inwards funding this year, including the Open Viral Load too Engineering World Health systems winning kickoff too minute position respectively inwards the Big Ideas at Berkeley Global Health rail too receiving $2,000 each from the UCSD Social Innovation Fund.
"The Open Viral Load Team was ane of 2 [Global TIES] teams selected for this year's Clinton Global Initiative University, said Mandy Bratton, the Executive Director for Global TIES at UC San Diego. “We are really proud of the run these students are doing too the touching on it promises to conduct maintain for HIV patients inwards depression resources areas.”
Low-Cost HIV Monitoring
The cardinal is determining the viral load, or the copies of HIV acquaint inwards the body. After a surely threshold, or higher upwardly a surely release of copies, the virus is determined to last resistant to HIV therapy, too patients must start novel therapies. However, inwards depression resources settings too without the necessary equipment, changing therapies is nearly impossible for doctors to justify.
The OVL too EWH teams are approaching the work differently. In EWH’s case, the device consists of a low-cost centrifuge, PCR thermocycler, too a gel electrophoresis box.
 |
| The centrifuge, role of the Open Viral Load HIV-Monitoring device, processes blood. |
“The centrifuge processes the blood too then that nosotros tin give the axe larn to the viral RNA,” said Maker. “After nosotros extract the RNA, nosotros amplify a factor specific to HIV using the thermocycler. Finally, nosotros run it through the gel box to run into whether viral RNA is acquaint inwards large quantities. This helps doctors brand the telephone band on whether the patient’s HIV medication is non working. This procedure isn’t novel, but we’re making it accessible to hospitals too clinics inwards low-resource areas, such equally Tijuana, which is too then or too then home.”
The divergence betwixt EWH’s device too the device the Global TIES squad has built is the output.
“The divergence is a qualitative versus a quantitative output. EWH’s device has a qualitative aye or no output, identifying for the medico when a viral charge threshold has been reached,” said Maker. “On the other hand, the OVL Team has built a device that quantifies the amount of virus present.”
Hayley Chong too Kirk Hutchison are role of the OVL Team.
Chong is a 3rd twelvemonth bioengineering major. “I chose Global TIES equally a freshman because every pupil I met that was inwards the programme was passionate close their project,” said Chong.
Hutchison, a minute twelvemonth biological scientific discipline major, chose to participate inwards Global TIES afterward hearing a verbalize yesteryear a Global TIES fellow member at an event.
“Global TIES is the argue I came to UC San Diego,” said Hutchison.
The 2 joined the OVL Team at the same time, afterward taking the introductory class in the Global TIES program.
“We decided to come upwardly up amongst a means to quantify the viral load,” said Chong. “We started amongst a microwell flake – ane time nosotros extract the RNA, nosotros tin give the axe deposit it on the microwell flake too utilization a fluorescent probe to give away the release of copies inwards each sample. If v wells on the flake low-cal up, at that topographic point are v copies of the virus.”
The device is too advantageous because its components tin give the axe last used separately to position other diseases. Students volition too last working amongst Dr. Davey Smith this summertime to arrange the device equally a rapid answer examination for the Zika virus.
Impact
Over the class of the summer, groups of students from the 2 teams straight off await to clinically validate the designs too start out champaign implementation. Lab testing volition proceed nether Drs. Strain too Smith hither inwards the U.S.A. too amongst their novel partner Dr. Jose Roman Chavez Mendez at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC) inwards Tijuana. With the teams collaborating too working together this summer, the time to come looks vivid equally they await to brand an touching on on the kickoff of many low-resource settings.
Sumber http://jacobsschoolofengineering.blogspot.com/