Abstract

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus – a virus that makes your immune system weak so that it cannot fight off infection. It’s not easy to detect HIV in the first few weeks after infection, but it’s actually very important so the person can begin treatment and prevent transmission to another person. 

This is why we wanted to create a cheap, portable, and reliable method to detect HIV in the early stages of infection. We were able to develop a small device that can rapidly detect the virus from blood. This low-power, automated device could be easily used by healthcare workers – especially in areas with limited resources.