Laboratory results without the wait

In current medicine, patients have to wait weeks for results to return from the lab. For many diseases, such as cervical cancer, a sample of cells must be taken, sent off to a laboratory, the cells must undergo a complex procedure, and then results can be returned to the doctor and subsequently to the patient. A new projects conducted by EU called MicroActive hopes to remedy this problem.

The solution is a health chip no bigger than a credit card. The chip is grooved with different small channels that contain all of the enzymes and materials that are used in diagnosis in the specific amounts needed. When a sample is run through the channels, the chip performs all of the procedures that would be done in a normal laboratory, in much less time. The doctor simply places the chip with the sample into a machine and reads the results. Techniques for interpreting the reults have been developed by SINTEF’s MiNaLaB and involve techniques such as analysis under a spectrophotometer.

The chip is now being developed by NorChip for industrial use. Eventually this chip could be used by the patients at home to read their own sample and obtain an accurate diagnosis.

What caught my interest in this article was their mention of a diagnosis for cervical cancer. Often, diseases such as cervical cancer are not caught in time due to a misdiagnosis in the lab. The use of these chips would eliminate false diagnosis and help to improve the standard of care. With a much shorter delay time and fast results, many diseases could be treated before it has progressed too far.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101213071117.htm