Fig 1. World Health Organisation (WHO) reveals that nearly 3.4% of people have PCOS globally.
Fig 2. In India 2 in 10 women have PCOS.
Fig 3. An estimated 70% of PCOS cases remain undiagnosed.
Blood test
Selected hormones in the blood are tested. However, these hormones aren’t specific to the syndrome and can show fluctuating levels in the case of other metabolic disorders, which can lead to misdiagnosis
Ultrasound Scan
Ultrasound scan inspects the morphological anatomy of the ovary. Screening for cysts and the size of each ovary is done to look for abnormalities. But ultrasound scans cannot distinguish between ovarian tumours and cysts, leading to misdiagnosis. Also, the lack of accessibility of Ultrasound scans hinders the diagnosis in rural areas
Pelvic examinations
A medical professional examines the pelvic and the medical history of the person including mapping the fluctuations in menstrual cycles. Based on this a diagnosis can be made. Since symptoms of PCOS are nonspecific, they can vary from person to person. Additionally, there are issues of privacy with these examination methods
To tackle the issues with the current diagnostic methods, we propose “AptaSteles,” a novel aptamer-based diagnostic kit. The kit diagnoses based on a range of biomolecules in the blood associated with PCOS symptoms. Specific aptamers detect these molecules and produce a fluorescent signal that is converted to a digital readout. The aptamers are integrated in a hardware device based on microfluidics. Thus, we take a step forward towards a private and hassle free PCOS diagnosis.
Find out how human practices helped us understand the impact of our kit
HUMAN PRACTICES
Check out to explore the journey of our kit.
HARDWARE