Buruli Ulcer Mobile Lab Field Test Results from Ghana

A 2026 study by Hubert Senanu Ahor evaluated a portable suitcase laboratory for diagnosing Buruli ulcer in three endemic districts of Ghana. The dataset contains results from 39 PCR-confirmed cases, with the mobile platform achieving 82% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The entire on-site diagnostic process, from sample collection to DNA amplification, was completed in under one hour.

Use Cases

• Benchmarking the performance of isothermal Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA) assays based on the described field evaluation.
• Analyzing diagnostic sensitivity differences between swab and fine-needle aspirate (FNA) sample types based on the reported 91% vs 69% results.
• Modeling the operational feasibility of mobile laboratory platforms for infectious disease diagnosis based on the described portable setup and one-hour workflow.

Strengths

• Provides clear diagnostic performance metrics: 82% sensitivity (95% CI: 67–91) and 100% specificity (95% CI: 90–100) for the mobile platform.
• Includes comparative analysis by sample type, showing swabs had 91% sensitivity while fine-needle aspirates had 69%.
• Dataset is openly licensed under CC-BY-4.0, facilitating reuse and analysis.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for statistical modeling.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The dataset is very small at 20.4 KB, indicating limited scope.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Field evaluation of a mobile suitcase laboratory platform using a rapid DNA extraction method and an M. ulcerans Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (Mu-RPA) assay.

Time Range

Study published in 2026.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-04 17:42:08; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Three endemic districts of Ghana.