Title :
An inexpensive PC based thermocycler for diagnosis based on polymerase chain reaction
Author :
Upadhyay, Pramod K.
Author_Institution :
Nat. Inst. of Immunology, New Delhi, India
Abstract :
Modern diagnostic methods are based on the detection of some specific DNA sequence which often require very small amounts of DNA to be amplified. The simplicity of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and its associated instrumentation have achieved wide acceptance for the diagnosis of TB, leprosy, hepatitis, AIDS etc. We have developed an inexpensive PC based thermocycler which uses electric heating and water at 4°C for cooling. The cost of the set-up, excluding a PC and a chiller is around Rs. 3000/=. The temperature control is built around the easily accessible parallel printer adaptor of the IBM PC. This instrument was tested for the diagnosis of TB meningitis
Keywords :
DNA; biomedical electronics; biomedical equipment; cooling; electric heating; medical diagnostic computing; microcomputer applications; molecular biophysics; patient diagnosis; physical instrumentation control; temperature control; 4 degC; AIDS; IBM PC; TB; TB meningitis; cooling; diagnosis; electric heating; hepatitis; inexpensive PC based thermocycler; instrumentation; leprosy; parallel printer adaptor; polymerase chain reaction; specific DNA sequence; temperature control; water; Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; Cooling; Costs; DNA; Instruments; Liver diseases; Polymers; Resistance heating; Sequences; Water heating;
Conference_Titel :
Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 1995 and 14th Conference of the Biomedical Engineering Society of India. An International Meeting, Proceedings of the First Regional Conference., IEEE
Conference_Location :
New Delhi
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-2711-X
DOI :
10.1109/RCEMBS.1995.533043
