Reliable electricity is a rare commodity in some parts of Guinea, which means some traditional medical equipment often is useless. So researchers there are using a new tool to identify Ebola cases: a portable diagnostic machine that fits in a suitcase and runs on a solar battery.
The suitcase technology is part of a growing push among scientists and startups to develop simplified, low-cost diagnostics for use in the field, particularly in remote or low-income regions that lack electricity or sophisticated lab equipment. Other examples include smaller, simplified versions of the polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, machines that most Western labs use to look for traces of pathogens’ DNA, and diagnostic test tubes that can be activated with body heat.
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