Laboratory under the skin
The human body is an actively functioning chemical factory where thousands of compounds are synthesized and transported to different parts of the body with blood flow. Some of these compounds can be used as markers of health status.
A group of researchers from the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, Switzerland has developed a tiny device implanted under the skin that allows you to continuously monitor the concentrations of various compounds in human blood.
The implant, which is about 14 mm in size, consists of sensors, an electromagnetic transmitter in the form of a coil and a miniature device for exchanging data using radio waves. This baby can simultaneously determine the content of up to five proteins and organic acids in the blood and transmit the results directly to the computer of the attending physician via a radio signal.
To ensure interaction with the analyzed compounds, such as lactic acid, glucose or ATP, enzyme molecules are applied to the surface of each sensor. According to the developers, theoretically, the implant being developed can be used to determine the concentration of any compounds, but enzymes have a limited lifespan, which must be increased to the maximum possible values. The enzymes tested at the current stage remain active for about a month and a half, which is enough to solve many problems. In addition, the small size of the implant makes it easy to remove and replace.
The developers believe that their brainchild can be especially useful when monitoring the condition of patients undergoing chemotherapy. Currently, oncologists periodically prescribe blood tests to their patients to assess the tolerability of the dosages of chemotherapy drugs used. This approach makes it difficult to select optimal doses of extremely toxic drugs. The implant, which provides continuous monitoring of the dynamics of concentrations of compounds of interest to doctors in the blood of patients, will provide a more individual approach to chemotherapy, which will simultaneously increase its effectiveness and reduce the harmful effect on the body.
Another promising area of application of the developed implant is the management of patients with chronic recurrent diseases, as it can send alarm signals even before the occurrence of life-threatening symptoms. This will allow you to take timely measures to stop the manifestations of the disease.
The prototype of the device is currently at the stage of experimental development and allows obtaining reliable results for only five compounds traditionally analyzed in the blood. The developers hope that within the next four years, the final version of the implant will appear on the medical market.
The results of the work were presented on March 20 at DATE 13, the largest conference in Europe dedicated to the achievements of electronics, held on 18-22 in Grenoble (France).
Evgeniya Ryabtseva
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru Based on ScienceDaily: Under the Skin, a Tiny Laboratory.
21.03.2013