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Credit: CDC
A new assay can be used to determine if a product actually contains the antimalarial drug artesunate, according to a paper published in the journal Talanta.
The testing system looks about as simple, and is almost as cheap, as a sheet of paper.
But it’s actually a colorimetric assay consumers could use to tell whether or not they are getting the medication they paid for—artesunate.
The assay also verifies that an adequate level of the drug is present.
“There are laboratory methods to analyze medications such as this, but they often are not available or widely used in the developing world, where malaria kills thousands of people every year,” said study author Vincent Remcho, PhD, of Oregon State University in Corvallis.
“What we need are inexpensive, accurate assays that can detect adulterated pharmaceuticals in the field, simple enough that anyone can use them. Our technology should provide that.”
The technology is an application of microfluidics in which a film is impressed onto paper that can then detect the presence and level of artesunate in a product.
A single pill can be crushed and dissolved in water. When a drop of the solution is placed on the paper, it turns yellow if the drug is present. The intensity of the color indicates the level of the drug, which can be compared to a simple color chart.
The system can also include another step. The researchers created an iPhone app that could be used to measure the color and tell with an even higher degree of accuracy both the presence and level of artesunate.
“This is conceptually similar to what we do with integrated circuit chips in computers, but we’re pushing fluids around instead of electrons, to reveal chemical information that’s useful to us,” Dr Remcho said. “Chemical communication is how Mother Nature does it, and the long-term applications of this approach really are mind-blowing.”
Aside from ensuring patients receive the appropriate treatment, the assay could help government officials combat the larger problem of drug counterfeiting. Researchers have found that, in some places in the developing world, more than 80% of outlets are selling counterfeit pharmaceuticals.
Dr Remcho and his colleagues also believe their technique could be expanded for a wide range of other medical conditions, pharmaceutical and diagnostic tests, pathogen detection, environmental analysis, and other uses. 
Credit: CDC
A new assay can be used to determine if a product actually contains the antimalarial drug artesunate, according to a paper published in the journal Talanta.
The testing system looks about as simple, and is almost as cheap, as a sheet of paper.
But it’s actually a colorimetric assay consumers could use to tell whether or not they are getting the medication they paid for—artesunate.
The assay also verifies that an adequate level of the drug is present.
“There are laboratory methods to analyze medications such as this, but they often are not available or widely used in the developing world, where malaria kills thousands of people every year,” said study author Vincent Remcho, PhD, of Oregon State University in Corvallis.
“What we need are inexpensive, accurate assays that can detect adulterated pharmaceuticals in the field, simple enough that anyone can use them. Our technology should provide that.”
The technology is an application of microfluidics in which a film is impressed onto paper that can then detect the presence and level of artesunate in a product.
A single pill can be crushed and dissolved in water. When a drop of the solution is placed on the paper, it turns yellow if the drug is present. The intensity of the color indicates the level of the drug, which can be compared to a simple color chart.
The system can also include another step. The researchers created an iPhone app that could be used to measure the color and tell with an even higher degree of accuracy both the presence and level of artesunate.
“This is conceptually similar to what we do with integrated circuit chips in computers, but we’re pushing fluids around instead of electrons, to reveal chemical information that’s useful to us,” Dr Remcho said. “Chemical communication is how Mother Nature does it, and the long-term applications of this approach really are mind-blowing.”
Aside from ensuring patients receive the appropriate treatment, the assay could help government officials combat the larger problem of drug counterfeiting. Researchers have found that, in some places in the developing world, more than 80% of outlets are selling counterfeit pharmaceuticals.
Dr Remcho and his colleagues also believe their technique could be expanded for a wide range of other medical conditions, pharmaceutical and diagnostic tests, pathogen detection, environmental analysis, and other uses.
Credit: CDC
A new assay can be used to determine if a product actually contains the antimalarial drug artesunate, according to a paper published in the journal Talanta.
The testing system looks about as simple, and is almost as cheap, as a sheet of paper.
But it’s actually a colorimetric assay consumers could use to tell whether or not they are getting the medication they paid for—artesunate.
The assay also verifies that an adequate level of the drug is present.
“There are laboratory methods to analyze medications such as this, but they often are not available or widely used in the developing world, where malaria kills thousands of people every year,” said study author Vincent Remcho, PhD, of Oregon State University in Corvallis.
“What we need are inexpensive, accurate assays that can detect adulterated pharmaceuticals in the field, simple enough that anyone can use them. Our technology should provide that.”
The technology is an application of microfluidics in which a film is impressed onto paper that can then detect the presence and level of artesunate in a product.
A single pill can be crushed and dissolved in water. When a drop of the solution is placed on the paper, it turns yellow if the drug is present. The intensity of the color indicates the level of the drug, which can be compared to a simple color chart.
The system can also include another step. The researchers created an iPhone app that could be used to measure the color and tell with an even higher degree of accuracy both the presence and level of artesunate.
“This is conceptually similar to what we do with integrated circuit chips in computers, but we’re pushing fluids around instead of electrons, to reveal chemical information that’s useful to us,” Dr Remcho said. “Chemical communication is how Mother Nature does it, and the long-term applications of this approach really are mind-blowing.”
Aside from ensuring patients receive the appropriate treatment, the assay could help government officials combat the larger problem of drug counterfeiting. Researchers have found that, in some places in the developing world, more than 80% of outlets are selling counterfeit pharmaceuticals.
Dr Remcho and his colleagues also believe their technique could be expanded for a wide range of other medical conditions, pharmaceutical and diagnostic tests, pathogen detection, environmental analysis, and other uses.