This paper describes the use of thread as a matrix for the fabrication of diagnostic assay systems. The kinds of thread used for this study are inexpensive, broadly available, and lightweight; some of them are already familiar materials in healthcare. Fluids wick along these threads by capillary action; no external power source is necessary for pumping. This paper demonstrates three designs for diagnostic assays that use different characteristics of the thread. The first two designssthe "woven array" and the "branching design"stake advantage of the ease with which thread can be woven on a loom to generate fluidic pathways that enable multiple assays to be performed in parallel. The third designsthe "sewn array"stakes advantage of the ease with which thread can be sewn through a hydrophobic polymer sheet to incorporate assays into bandages, diapers and similar systems. These designs lead to microfluidic devices that may be useful in performing simple colorimetric assays that require qualitative results. We demonstrate the function of thread-based microfluidic devices in the context of five different colorimetric assays: detection of ketones, nitrite, protein, and glucose in artificial urine, and detection of alkaline phosphatase in artificial plasma.

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This article draws upon data from Reaching Out Online, a collaborative research project that explored the need for, and development of, a digital health outreach service for gay, bisexual men and men who have sex with men (MSM) in London and Brighton, United Kingdom. It identifies the challenges that commercial hookup apps and other digitally based dating and sex services pose for conventional forms of gay men's health promotion. It then moves to explore the opportunities that these same services offer for health promotion teams. Chiefly, the discussion highlights the potential that commercial platforms offer to peer educators in terms of reaching local cohorts of men, together with the constraints placed upon this form of outreach as a result of the commercial imperatives that underpin these digital services.