We put the lab on a paper strip.
RiverKit detects live Riverblindness infection from urine — in the village, in minutes, for under a dollar.
The product
RiverKit
A sub-dollar dipstick that detects the antigens of a live onchocerciasis infection in urine. Not exposure. Not antibodies left over from an infection cleared years ago — a live infection, right now, which is the only thing a treatment decision can actually be made on.
Everything that normally sits between a patient and that answer — the centrifuge, the cold chain, the mains power, the technician, the courier, the three-week wait — we designed out.
How it works
Three steps. No equipment.
Collect
The patient provides a urine sample. No blood draw, no skin snip, no needle, no trained phlebotomist.
Dip
A health worker dips the strip. Nothing is plugged in, nothing is refrigerated, nothing is calibrated.
Read
The line appears or it doesn't. The result is read by eye, on the spot, while the patient is still there.
Inside the strip
Four layers of paper, and the chemistry that does the work.
The sample enters at one end and is pulled across by nothing but capillary action. On the way it collects gold-tagged antibodies; if the antigen of a live infection is there, they are caught at the test line and the colour becomes visible to the naked eye.
Where we are
Proof-of-concept is done. This is not a concept.
World first
The first urine antigen-based dipstick for onchocerciasis anywhere in the world.
Two ARNTD grants
Proof-of-concept funded and delivered under the African Research Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Published
The underlying science is peer-reviewed and in the public record, not a pitch-deck claim.
What’s next
Riverblindness is the first one. The platform is the point.
The same format works for the other neglected diseases that burden the continent. We’re looking for the partners, ministries and clinics to run the next pilots with.