Open Diagnostic Reader (ODR): An affordable, modular 3D-printed platform for standardized imaging and quantitative analysis of rapid diagnostic tests.

Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) are key to disease surveillance, yet their interpretation remains challenging due to weak colorimetric signals and difficulties in interpreting results. Subjective interpretation of control and test line(s) presence and increasingly complex multiplex RDTs with many result combinations highlight the need for interpretation aides. Proprietary hardware is often expensive, fixed to specific tests, and unsuitable in decentralised testing locations. We present the Open Diagnostic Reader (ODR), a cost-effective (15 – 45 GBP), modular, easy-to-use open-source diagnostic imaging platform. The platform supports multiple lighting modalities (internal, external or no light source); multiple RDTs and disease targets (cholera and Hepatitis E); and multiple diagnostic test use cases (RDTs and agar plates for antimicrobial resistance testing). Designs can be quickly printed (19 – 25 hours) using desktop 3D printers and require only simple or no assembly. The ODR facilitates a standardised imaging capture environment and thus reproducible image analyses pipelines, including quantitative intensity analyses and ML-enabled interpretation.