PortPath: A Portable Device for Detecting Pathogens

Many of today's water resources are contaminated by pathogenic bacteria, which cause serious diseases, especially in low-income countries. One particularly grave concern is Vibrio cholerae, the disease-causing agent of cholera, with an estimated 1.3 to 4.0 million cases worldwide every year and an estimated annual mortality rate of up to 143,000 people. The current state-of-the-art detection methods for this pathogen have high demands on the equipment and on the expertise of the investigating person. In addition, a positive detection generally takes several hours and is very expensive. PortPath presents a completely new approach for the detection of pathogens (with emphasis on the cholera pathogen), which is based on automated analysis of water samples contaminated with pathogens. PortPath is not only much faster and cheaper than previous detection methods but can also be used by non-medical laypersons. An easy-to-use software together with low-cost hardware shows whether pathogens are present in a water sample. The software uses the recent developments in computer technology, especially in machine learning strategies. Significant components of PortPath have already been developed. The two objectives during the Proof of Concept phase are (1) the technical validation with a first prototype of PortPath, and (2) the development of a business plan for PortPath.