An Affordable and Portable Thermocycler for Real-Time PCR Made of 3D-Printed Parts and Off-the-Shelf Electronics

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a sought-after nucleic acid amplification technique used in the detection of several diseases. However, one of the main limitations of this and other nucleic acid amplification assays is the complexity, size, maintenance, and cost of their operational instrumentation. This limits the use of PCR applications in settings that cannot afford the instruments but that may have access to basic electrical, electronic, and optical components and the expertise to build them. To provide a more accessible platform, we developed a low-cost, palm-size, and portable instrument to perform real-time PCR (qPCR). The thermocycler leverages a copper-sheathed power resistor and a computer fan, in tandem with basic electronic components controlled from a single-board computer. The instrument incorporates a 3D-printed chassis and a custom-made fluorescence optical setup based on a CMOS camera and a blue LED. Results are displayed in real-time on a tablet. We also fabricated simple acrylic microdevices consisting of four wells (2 mu L in volume each) where PCR reactions take place. To test our instrument, we performed qPCR on a series of cDNA dilutions spanning 4 orders of magnitude, achieving similar limits of detection as those achieved by a benchtop thermocycler. We envision our instrument being utilized to enable routine monitoring and diagnosis of certain diseases in low-resource areas.