Novel Methods for Detection of Allergens in the Home Environment: Point-of-care Systems Utilizing Smartphone Technology

Environmental exposure of asthmatics to allergens in homes results in lost sleep and days of school/work. Multifactorial allergen mitigation is necessary to improve asthma outcomes by targeting the challenges unique to each home but can be unfeasible because direct allergen measurement is difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Novel smartphone-based systems can allow for rapid, point-of-care detection of these home allergens. This workshop will describe improvements in color-based detection, client/patient education needs, and lateral flow assay capabilities that overcome limitations of prior home allergen detection methods. We will also describe a case study project to develop a smartphone-based system paired with a lateral flow assay to measure common allergens in homes of an asthma homecare program. The color correction algorithm can reduce up to 90% of color variance with images captured under different lighting conditions and performs 200% better than readings from the human eye. A needs assessment in a cohort of parents of pediatric asthma patients revealed interest in allergen mitigation to control their asthma and highlighted the need for allergen education. Overall, novel allergen detection technologies can help clinicians, home maintenance professionals and occupants target limited resources to remediate the most important allergens in the homes of sensitized individuals.