{"doi":"10.1371/journal.pgph.0000185","title":"Implementation of an interactive mobile application to pilot a rapid assay to detect HIV drug resistance mutations in Kenya","abstract":"Usability is an overlooked aspect of implementing lab-based assays, particularly novel assays in low-resource-settings. Esoteric instructions can lead to irreproducible test results and patient harm. To address these issues, we developed a software application based on \"Aquarium\", a laboratory-operating system run on a computer tablet that provides step-by-step digital interactive instructions, protocol management, and sample tracking. Aquarium was paired with a near point-of-care HIV drug resistance test, \"OLA-Simple\", that detects mutations associated with virologic failure. In this observational study we evaluated the performance of Aquarium in guiding untrained users through the multi-step laboratory protocol with little supervision. To evaluate the training by Aquarium software we conducted a feasibility study in a laboratory at Coptic Hope Center in Nairobi, Kenya. Twelve volunteers who were unfamiliar with the kit performed the test on blinded samples (2 blood specimens; 5 codons/sample). Steps guided by Aquarium included: CD4+ T-Cell separation, PCR, ligation, detection, and interpretation of test results. Participants filled out a short survey regarding their demographics and experience with the software and kit. None of the laboratory technicians had prior experience performing CD4+ separation and 7/12 had no experience performing laboratory-based molecular assays. 12/12 isolated CD4+ T cells from whole blood with yields comparable to isolations performed by trained personnel. The OLA-Simple workflow was completed by all, with genotyping results interpreted correctly by unaided-eye in 108/120 (90%) and by software in 116/120 (97%) of codons analyzed. In the surveys, participants favorably assessed the use of software guidance. The Aquarium digital instructions enabled first-time users in Kenya to complete the OLA-simple kit workflow with minimal training. Aquarium could increase the accessibility of laboratory assays in low-resource-settings and potentially standardize implementation of clinical laboratory tests.","journal":"PLOS Global Public Health","year":2022,"id":283329,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":6,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9539,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2022-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":683854,"name":"Nuttada Panpradist","orcid":"0000-0002-2733-4110","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":897582,"name":"Nikki Higa","orcid":"0000-0003-3236-8929","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":466187,"name":"Daisy Ko","orcid":"0009-0004-6005-6871","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":683855,"name":"Parker S. Ruth","orcid":"0000-0003-1030-4916","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":737177,"name":"Ruth Kanthula","orcid":"0000-0003-4087-1364","position":5,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":689733,"name":"James J. Lai","orcid":"0000-0003-3437-7810","position":6,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":959733,"name":"Yaoyu Yang","orcid":"0000-0002-5745-3970","position":7,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":960175,"name":"Samar R. Sakr","orcid":null,"position":8,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":331197,"name":"Bhavna Chohan","orcid":"0000-0002-2125-6799","position":9,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":377159,"name":"Michael H. Chung","orcid":"0000-0002-7315-5092","position":10,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":69658,"name":"Lisa M. Frenkel","orcid":"0000-0001-9566-8959","position":11,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":233083,"name":"Barry R. Lutz","orcid":"0000-0003-4298-4901","position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":807773,"name":"Eric Klavins","orcid":"0000-0002-3805-5117","position":13,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":377158,"name":"Ingrid A. Beck","orcid":"0000-0001-7438-3209","position":14,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":683858,"name":"Justin D. Vrana","orcid":"0000-0002-0862-0824","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":21,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T00:29:23.777809Z","pmid":"36962187","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}