A project led by Cornell's Center for Point of Care Technologies for Nutrition, Infection and Cancer (PORTENT) to develop a low-cost, battery-powered device for sample preparation in tuberculosis (TB) testing in areas with limited lab access and infrastructure, has received a $250,000 grant from the Gates Foundation.
The award supports development of the MAGNILyser, a portable device designed to prepare patient samples for TB testing by heating bacteria, making them safe to handle, and then breaking them open to release their DNA, the material required for accurate molecular detection. Tuberculosis remains one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases, responsible for millions of infections and deaths annually.
The project is led by David Erickson, director of PORTENT and S.C. Thomas Sze Director of the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Cornell Engineering. The work is conducted in collaboration with Saurabh Mehta, the Janet and Gordon Lankton Professor in the Division of Nutritional Sciences with the College of Human Ecology, and Dr. Aggrey S. Semeere, head of Prevention, Care and Treatment at the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) in Kampala, Uganda.
"Ideated by graduate student Jason Manning in the Erickson Lab, the MAGNILyser approach seeks to achieve both heat inactivation and mechanical lysis via a singular mechanism to reduce sample preparation to a portable, battery-powered device suitable for resource-limited settings," Erickson said.
Current testing for TB relies on large, energy-intensive equipment and trained personnel, limiting access in low- and middle-income countries. By miniaturizing and automating the most challenging step - sample preparation - the Cornell-led team aims to make accurate TB diagnosis more accessible in rural and underserved areas.
"The MAGNILyser enables on-site patient sample processing for decentralized testing in the rural and resource-limited settings where improved TB testing is needed most," Erickson said. "For clinicians, the device offers a low-cost, automated workflow to prepare PCR-ready specimens for faster diagnosis."
Over the two-year project period, Erickson and team will develop functional prototypes of the MAGNILyser at Cornell University and validate their performance through laboratory testing for inactivation efficiency, DNA yield, and reproducibility. Field usability and reliability testing will then be conducted in collaboration with the Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) in Kampala, Uganda, to assess ease of use under real-world conditions.
With support from PORTENT's global network, connecting scientists, engineers and clinicians in Uganda, India, Ecuador and the United States, the project will also draw on the center's Lab-to-Market Accelerator for guidance on regulatory strategy and business planning to advance MAGNILyser from a lab prototype to a deployable diagnostic tool.
"The MAGNILyser project reflects PORTENT's commitment to global health innovation by advancing lab technology into a practical tool for real-world impact with a focus on use in low-resource and point-of-care settings," Erickson said. "By seeking to minimize both device and per-sample costs, MAGNILyser aims to provide access to diagnostics to the rural and low-income communities that are often left behind.
PORTENT translates breakthrough point-of-care diagnostics into rapid, affordable tests that reduce the burden of chronic disease, curb infectious threats, and strengthen prevention efforts across the United States. By integrating technology development with clinical validation, training, and lab-to-market programs, PORTENT accelerates earlier detection of conditions - from diabetes, heart disease to emerging infections - so providers can intervene sooner, patients stay healthier, and health care costs decline.
