New Disease Diagnosing Method Cuts Down on Time
Scientists from the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom, have developed a new way to diagnose patients with life-threatening diseases. The scientists were part of a project, which costs 2.7 million Euros (about 4 million U.S. dollars), and involved numerous researchers and commercial partners. Contrary to previous methods of diagnosing these diseases which used blood work, urine samples, and multiple tests, this new way is similar to a simple, home pregnancy test.
The biosensor uses antibodies to detect certain molecules in the body which would point towards having certain diseases. The developers of this method have come up with multiple biosensors to test for different diseases. These diseases include prostate and ovarian cancer, stroke, heart disease, fungal infections, and multiple sclerosis. Previous methods for diagnosing these diseases took around two hours and had to be completed by highly experienced medical personnel. With this new invention, the process only takes a brief fifteen minutes and can be done by any member of the hospital staff. Aside from being used for everyday diagnosing, surgeons could use this method for finding out the causes of certain diseases during their operations. Although the method is still being perfected, workers on the project claim they will be able to make a machine the size of a cell phone capable of using different biosensors depending on the disease in question.
This article caught my eye because it is shaping the efficiency of diagnosing in medicine. I think this new method, when perfected, would cut down on time trying to identify the disease and, therefore, create more time used for fixing the problem. I imagine that one day more biosensors would be created in conjunction with this method that could ultimately detect any form of disease present in a patient. My question throughout this article is: if this method does become an every day, common technology, would we eventually have in-home testing for major life-threatening diseases?
Link (Diagnose Diseases in Just 15 Minutes?): http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081001093231.htm
Robin Terry
VTPP 434-502
The biosensor uses antibodies to detect certain molecules in the body which would point towards having certain diseases. The developers of this method have come up with multiple biosensors to test for different diseases. These diseases include prostate and ovarian cancer, stroke, heart disease, fungal infections, and multiple sclerosis. Previous methods for diagnosing these diseases took around two hours and had to be completed by highly experienced medical personnel. With this new invention, the process only takes a brief fifteen minutes and can be done by any member of the hospital staff. Aside from being used for everyday diagnosing, surgeons could use this method for finding out the causes of certain diseases during their operations. Although the method is still being perfected, workers on the project claim they will be able to make a machine the size of a cell phone capable of using different biosensors depending on the disease in question.
This article caught my eye because it is shaping the efficiency of diagnosing in medicine. I think this new method, when perfected, would cut down on time trying to identify the disease and, therefore, create more time used for fixing the problem. I imagine that one day more biosensors would be created in conjunction with this method that could ultimately detect any form of disease present in a patient. My question throughout this article is: if this method does become an every day, common technology, would we eventually have in-home testing for major life-threatening diseases?
Link (Diagnose Diseases in Just 15 Minutes?): http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081001093231.htm
Robin Terry
VTPP 434-502
posted by Robin Terry at 3:08 PM
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