Portable, low power instrument for the optoelectronic detection of pathogens using isothermal nucleic acid amplification protocols

A portable, low power apparatus for detecting a pathogen of interest in a biological sample, comprising:

• a heated pathogen isothermal amplification and diagnostic cell comprising one or more chambers structured to accommodate a reaction mixture and a heating element, the reaction mixture comprising the biological sample, a DNA primer, a reaction enzyme, and a DNA binding fluorescent dye, wherein the heating element heats the reaction mixture to a temperature sufficient to bind the pathogen of interest and DNA binding fluorescent dye to form a fluorescent dye/pathogenic DNA combination;
• an excitation source to excite the fluorescent dye/pathogenic DNA combination and to produce a fluorescence light output;
• an optical output filter operable to present the fluorescence light output in a predetermined bandwidth of wavelength;
• a photon sensing detector to capture the fluorescence light output and convert said fluorescent light output to an electrical signal;
• and
• an electrical signal detection and amplification circuit to transmit and display a measurement of the fluorescence light output to a wireless device.