Disposable chip for rapid diagnosis of cancer
A cheap cancer detection system based on nanostructured sensors has been created
Roman Ivanov, Computer
Using a sensor made up of tightly packed carbon nanotubes coated with gold particles, researchers led by James F. Rusling from the University of Connecticut (USA) have developed a cheap microfluidic device for detecting oral cancer.
In addition, according to the authors, the device can be easily adapted to detect other forms of cancer.
Tests conducted on samples from 78 patients suffering from various forms of cancer and 49 people from the control group showed that the device has a clinical sensitivity of 89% and a specificity of about 98% in detecting oral cancer. You can verify this in the journal Analytical Chemistry, which published a corresponding report (Malhotra et al., Ultrasensitive Detection of Cancer Biomarkers in the Clinic by Using a Nanostructured Microfluidic Array).
Despite the fact that other researchers are also developing analytical methods that give comparable (promising) results when detecting biomarkers in the blood of patients with oral cancer, all of them, according to scientists, are based on expensive technologies that require long processing.
The microfluidic device created by Mr. Rasling's group is capable of simultaneously detecting four extremely low concentrations of protein, which together provide a reliable diagnostic signature of oral cancer. Magnetic beads, each of which is coated with 120 thousand antibody molecules, can capture even trace amounts of specific biomarkers and remove them from the sample. The magnetic particles are then injected into a microfluidic device, where they float over the sensor elements. The change in the electrical signal of each of the sensors corresponds to the concentration of a certain protein in the blood.
The scheme of operation of a new test based on a sensor made of tightly packed carbon nanotubes coated with gold particles and a microfluidic device (ACS illustration).
The authors report that the whole procedure takes no more than 50 minutes. A disposable sensor chip on carbon nanotubes costs about $9, and electric signal readers and micro pumps cost less than $26 thousand, which makes the method available in any (Western) biomedical laboratory.
Prepared based on the materials of the National Cancer Institute: Nanostructured Sensors Power Novel Cancer Detection System.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru09.07.2012