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Engineering Online

CHE 596 607 Technology Diagnostics

3 Credit Hours

Emerging Technologies for Point-of-Care Diagnostics (CHE 596-036) will introduce you to the frontier of molecular diagnostics for point-of-care (POC) applications. The course will cover the basics of molecular diagnostics, POC testing, biosensors, biomarkers, and sample preparation, with a special focus on the trend of miniaturization of molecular assays and devices for point-of-use. The course is geared toward both graduate and senior undergraduate (3rd and 4th year) students who are interested in global health and biotechnology, with or without prior experience in the area. At the end of this course, students will have a general knowledge of the current state-of-the-art in molecular diagnostics and biosensors.

Prerequisites

None.

Course Objectives

At the end of the course, students will be able to:

  • Explain the definition and importance of POC diagnostics in the context of global health.
  • Describe disease-specific biomarkers, sample matrices, and their sample preparation methods.
  • Describe the principles, advantages, and disadvantages of common molecular diagnostic assays, such as PCR, LAMP, ELISA, LFA, and digital assays.
  • Explain the working mechanism of different POC reader devices.

Course Outline

  1. Intro to molecular diagnostics and POC testing Biomarker, Sample Matrix, and Preparation
  2. What are diagnostic biomarkers
  3. Common sample matrices: blood, salvia, etc.
  4. Common sample preparation methods: from cell capture, separation, to DNA/RNA extraction
    Molecular Assay Methods Nucleic acid-based assays
  5. PCR and its miniaturization
  6. Isothermal nucleic acid amplification technologies (e.g., LAMP, RPA, RCA, NASBA, etc.)
  7. Nonenzymatic nucleic acid amplification (e.g., CHA, HCR, etc.)
  8. CRISPR-based diagnostics (CRISPR-Dx)
  9. DNA sequencing
  10. Aptamer-based biosensors Protein-based assays
  11. ELISA and ELISA-alike immunoassays
  12. Lateral flow assays (LFA) Other assay methods
  13. Dye-based chemical and biosensing
  14. Nanoparticle-enhanced bioassays
  15. Biosensors with electrical readouts Chip and Readout Devices
  16. Lab-on-a-chip devices and digital assays
  17. Smartphone-based imaging and sensing devices
  18. Wearables devices Applications
  19. Fully integrated sample-to-answer systems
  20. In-field detection of plant diseases

Course Requirements

After the lectures, the students are required to complete both midterm and final exams to check the learning outcome. The students are also required to complete an open project by applying knowledge learned from the course.

Textbook

None.

Created: 03/31/2025