Diagnostics for All, a nonprofit startup in Cambridge, MA, has designed a cheap, disposable blood test for liver damage. The device uses a stack of paper the size of a postage stamp for a test of toxicity for drugs to treat HIV and tuberculosis.
Some antiretroviral therapies and many TB drugs are toxic to the liver.
Patients on HIV and TB medication in rich countries are typically
monitored every month for liver damage and taken off the treatment if
liver damage becomes imminent. "In the U.S., [testing] is routine. It's
expected, it's standard," says Nira Pollock, a faculty member at Harvard Medical
School and infectious diseases expert at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical
Center in Boston.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Technology Review: A Paper Test for Liver Damage
Author: Nidhi Subbaraman
