The control of infectious diseases in low-resource settings continues to be impacted by the limited availability of low-cost, easy to use diagnostics. However, even in developing nations, smart phones are common and can be used as "instruments" to control diagnostic devices. Here, we aim to use a smart phone to input a sound wave into a microfluidic card and measure a sound wave coming out of the card to determine whether a disease is present in the sample. This can be done by creating a network of fluid channels that can be modeled as an electrical circuit containing resistors, inductors, and capacitors (RLC circuit). When the sound wave is input to the system, it causes the fluid to oscillate and has a resonant frequency that is dependent on the characteristics of the system (the resistance, inductance, and capacitance). A chemical reaction of an analyte—the chemical that indicates a disease is present—causes a change in the fluid resistance, fluid inductance, or fluid capacitance (e.g. the creation of a bubble would change the capacitance). This change in R, L, or C shifts the resonant frequency of the fluid circuit, allowing the presence of the analyte to be recognized. This project seeks to integrate a means of detection (like a microphone) into the diagnostic card to measure the analyte-dependent resonant frequency. Completion of this would take the system one step closer to bringing simple and effective diagnostic platforms to developing nations.

Hydrocephalus is a medical condition affecting one in every 500 to 1,000 live births in which an excessive amount of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) accumulates in the brain ventricles. Accumulation of CSF can occur if the pathway of CSF drainage is blocked or if too much CSF is being secreted. If CSF buildup is unchecked, intracranial pressure (ICP) will increase and lead to intracranial hematoma, cerebral edema, or brain herniation.Hydrocephalus is commonly treated by an implanted CSF shunt which is small catheter with one way pressure or flow controlling valve which diverts CSF from the brain ventricles to the heart or peritoneal cavity thus lowering ICP.However, 40% of the existing shunts fail in one year and 95% of the shunts fail in five years. Valve obstruction accounts for 50% of shunt failures. The high obstruction rate is due to the fact that existing CSF shunt valves suffer from complicated internal regulating mechanisms that are prone to obstruction. To have a significant impact on reducing the number of failures due to valve obstruction, a novel shunt valve design is necessary. Thus, the primary goal of our design is to reduce the valve failure due to obstruction. Our approach is to replace the internal regulating valve with a simple regulating mechanism. The key features of the valve designs are that there is no contact between CSF and regulating components and a simple flow path.This CSF shunt valve can maintain ICP within a physiological range by regulating the rate of CSF drainage according to ICP.