To evaluate the performance of the pocket-size fluorimeter VPodDuo in comparison to larger laboratory instruments across several rapid molecular tests.
Approach:
Testing Methods: The VPodDuo was evaluated using various molecular assays including reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification, recombinase polymerase amplification, CRISPR-based assays, and a nonenzymatic amplification method.
Targets Assessed: The tests covered nucleic acid targets associated with Zika virus, methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus, human immunodeficiency virus, and lung cancer.
Performance Metrics: Assay reactions lasted approximately 10 minutes, and detection limits were compared with those of laboratory instruments.
Key Findings:
For Zika virus, both VPodDuo and QuantStudio achieved a detection limit of 10,000 copies/µL.
For methicillin-susceptible S. aureus, detection limits were 100 copies/µL for VPodDuo and 10 copies/µL for QuantStudio.
In CRISPR-based testing, VPodDuo identified HIV at approximately 7 pM, compared to 8 pM using a laboratory microplate reader.
The VPodDuo identified the L858R EGFR mutation at approximately 29 pM, compared to 47 pM using a laboratory reader.
Both VPodDuo and a commercial Qubit fluorimeter achieved a detection limit of 500 pM for miR-375-3p.
Interpretation:
The VPodDuo demonstrated comparable performance to larger laboratory instruments for various molecular assays in controlled conditions.
Limitations:
The study assessed analytical performance rather than clinical diagnostic accuracy.
Testing was conducted on targets diluted in buffer rather than patient specimens.
Most assays required separate heating equipment as the instrument did not contain a heating block.
Conclusion:
Further studies using clinical specimens are needed to evaluate sample preparation, reproducibility, calibration, and performance under varied environmental conditions.
