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POPPY is an at-home screening testing kit that will aid the diagnosis process of polycystic ovary syndrome, PCOS. Our device is similar to a pregnancy test in that it analyzes urine hormone levels, however, our target hormone is aldosterone as opposed to human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). The current diagnosis process for PCOS requires transvaginal ultrasounds, blood tests, and pelvic exams which are extensive, expensive, and invasive. For this reason, POPPY is innovative in design and can be influential to many women that may be suffering from PCOS. By basing our design on the standard pregnancy test lateral flow design, we were able to focus our efforts on designing a product around how our test would work best. It was concluded that using our competitive antibody assay and fluid flow experiments, POPPY will be able to deliver an accurate response to urine aldosterone hormone levels in about 5 minutes. The lateral flow experiments confirmed that the fluid flow through our device would take about 5 minutes and would allow time for the urine to bind to the antibodies. The test results will be displayed colorimetrically with visible lines, semi-visible lines, or no lines indicating aldosterone levels. The lines represent different threshold amounts of aldosterone hormone levels in the urine sample, so a visible line will suggest that a low aldosterone hormone level is present. In contrast, no visible line will indicate high aldosterone hormone levels. The case is designed to contain a sample pad made of glass fiber that will absorb 5 mL of urine. This metric was achieved by increasing the aperture between the sample pad and the display portion of the device. From there, the glass fiber will distribute liquid to two layers of nitrocellulose strips containing gold-labeled aldosterone and antibody capture regions. As the urine flows laterally across the strip, it will slow down based on the Lucas-Washburn equation modeling lateral flow. The length of the device allows for a five-minute flow period, in which the antibodies and aldosterone will have adequate time to bind. We focused on matching or improving the ergonomics of the standard pregnancy test while maintaining enough of its physical attributes and functionality to make the product familiar to the user. 

Attachment	Size
Poster for POPPY	438.37 KB
Final report for POPPY	10.1 MB