Team:Bielefeld-CeBiTec/Software

Our App

Fluorescence Quantification via Smartphone

The Problem

Fluorescence is a widely used output signal in many microbiological and biotechnological applications. Green fluorescent protein (GFP) is among the mostly used reporter proteins and has been used in numerous iGEM projects. Nevertheless fluorescence can barely be detected by the eye and quantification turns out to be impossible.

The Solution

We solved this problem with a smartphone App. It determines the median of the greenvalue of some pixels in the sensorspot and compares it to these of the negative control. If the ratio of real sample and negative control is above a certain theshold, the app detects a contamination. It also checks whether the value for the positive control is above a certain value, thereby confirming the functionality of the test. Furthermore it contains specific information regarding the different heavymetals and date rape drugs.

A photo of our test strip generated by a typical smartphone using an ideal filter combination to detect fluorescence of sfGFP.

Screenshot of the app. It shows the pixels it took into account for the calculation in red, so the user can check, whether the pixels chosen are correct. Furthermore, it provides the values it calculated for the greeness of the spot.

The application is adapted to the box shown in the picture. The box provides the ideal environment for capturing pictures under reproducible conditions. The application will calculate whether a contamination is present and give out an list of the contaminants in the water sample.

Download it!

See the source code!

Ok, so my GMOs are in a box and everything is safe?