News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel

News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

Hosted by Robert Michel
Sign In

US and UK Researchers Simultaneously Develop New Tests to Detect Prostate Cancer

Though still in trials, early results show tests may be more accurate than traditional clinical laboratory tests for detecting prostate cancer

Within weeks of each other, different research teams in the US and UK published findings of their respective efforts to develop a better, more accurate clinical laboratory prostate cancer test. With cancer being a leading cause of death among men—second only to heart disease according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—new diagnostics to identify prostate cancer would be a boon to precision medicine treatments for the deadly disease and could save many lives.

Researchers at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in Norwich, England, were working to improve the accuracy of the widely-used and accepted prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. By contrast, researchers at Cedars-Sinai Cancer in Los Angeles, pursued a new liquid biopsy approach to identifying prostate cancer that uses nanotechnology.

Thus, these are two different pathways toward the goal of achieving earlier, more accurate diagnosis of prostate cancer, the holy grail of prostate cancer diagnosis.

Dmitry Pshezhetskiy, PhD

“There is currently no single test for prostate cancer, but PSA blood tests are among the most used, alongside physical examinations, MRI scans, and biopsies,” said Dmitry Pshezhetskiy, PhD (above), Professorial Research Fellow at University of East Anglia and one of the authors of the UEA study. “However, PSA blood tests are not routinely used to screen for prostate cancer, as results can be unreliable. Only about a quarter of people who have a prostate biopsy due to an elevated PSA level are found to have prostate cancer. There has therefore been a drive to create a new blood test with greater accuracy.” With the completion of the US and UK studies, clinical laboratories may soon have a new diagnostic test for prostate cancer. (Photo copyright: University of East Anglia.)

East Anglia’s Research into a More Accurate Blood Test

Scientists at the University of East Anglia (UEA) worked with researchers from Imperial College in London, Imperial College NHS Trust, and Oxford BioDynamics to develop a new precision medicine blood test that can detect prostate cancer with greater accuracy than current methods.

The epigenetic blood test they developed, called Prostate Screening EpiSwitch (PSE), can identify cancer-specific chromosome conformations in blood samples. The test works in tandem with the standard prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test to diagnose prostate cancer, according to an Oxford BioDynamics press release.

The researchers evaluated their test in a pilot study involving 147 patients. They found their testing method had a 94% accuracy rate, which is higher than that of PSA testing alone. They discovered their test significantly improved the overall detection of prostate cancer in men who are at risk for the disease. 

“When tested in the context of screening a population at risk, the PSE test yields a rapid and minimally invasive prostate cancer diagnosis with impressive performance,” Dmitry Pshezhetskiy, PhD, Professorial Research Fellow at UEA and one of the authors of the study told Science Daily. “This suggests a real benefit for both diagnostic and screening purposes.”

The UK scientists hope their test can eventually be used in everyday clinical practice as there is a need for a highly accurate method for prostate cancer screening that does not subject patients to unnecessary, costly, invasive procedures. 

The UEA researchers published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal Cancers, titled, “Circulating Chromosome Conformation Signatures Significantly Enhance PSA Positive Predicting Value and Overall Accuracy for Prostate Cancer Detection.”

Cedars-Sinai’s Research into Nanotechnology Cancer Testing

Researchers from Cedars-Sinai Cancer took a different approach to diagnosing prostate cancer by developing a nanotechnology-based liquid biopsy test that detects the disease even in microscopic amounts.  

Their test isolates and identifies extracellular vesicles (EVs) from blood samples. EVs are microscopic non-reproducing protein and genetic material shed by all cells. Cedars-Sinai’s EV Digital Scoring Assay accurately extracts EVs from blood and analyzes them faster than similar currently available tests.

“This research will revolutionize the liquid biopsy in prostate cancer,” said oncologist Edwin Posadas, MD, Medical Director of the Urologic Oncology Program and co-director of the Experimental Therapeutics Program in Cedars-Sinai Cancer in a press release. “The test is fast, minimally invasive and cost-effective, and opens up a new suite of tools that will help us optimize treatment and quality of life for prostate cancer patients.”

The researchers tested blood samples from 40 patients with prostate cancer. They found that their EV test could distinguish between cancer localized to the prostate and cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.

Microscopic cancer deposits, called micrometastases, are not always detectable, even with advanced imaging methods. When these deposits spread outside the prostate area, focused radiation cannot prevent further progression of the disease. Thus, the ability to identify cancer by locale within the body could lead to new precision medicine treatments for the illness.

“[The EV Digital Scoring Assay] would allow many patients to avoid the potential harms of radiation that isn’t targeting their disease, and instead receive systemic therapy that could slow disease progression,” Posadas explained.

The Cedars-Sinai researchers published their findings in Nano Today, titled, “Prostate Cancer Extracellular Vesicle Digital Scoring Assay: A Rapid Noninvasive Approach for Quantification of Disease-relevant mRNAs.”

Other Clinical Laboratory Tests for Prostate Cancer Under Development

According to the American Cancer Society, the number of prostate cancer cases is increasing. One out of eight men will be diagnosed with the illness during his lifetime. Thus, developers have been working on clinical laboratory tests to accurately detect the disease and save lives for some time.

In “University of East Anglia Researchers Develop Non-Invasive Prostate Cancer Urine Test,” Dark Daily reported on a urine test also developed by scientists at the University of East Anglia that clinical laboratories can use to not only accurately diagnose prostate cancer but also determine whether it is an aggressive form of the disease.

And in “UPMC Researchers Develop Artificial Intelligence Algorithm That Detects Prostate Cancer with ‘Near Perfect Accuracy’ in Effort to Improve How Pathologists Diagnose Cancer ,” we outlined how researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) working with Ibex Medical Analytics in Israel had developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm for digital pathology that can accurately diagnose prostate cancer. In the initial study, the algorithm—dubbed the Galen Prostate AI platform—accurately detected prostate cancer with 98% sensitivity and 97% specificity.

More research and clinical trials are needed before the new US and UK prostate cancer testing methods will be ready to be used in clinical settings. But it’s clear that ongoing research may soon produce new clinical laboratory tests and diagnostics for prostate cancer that will steer treatment options and allow for better patient outcomes.  

—JP Schlingman

Related Information:

The New Prostate Cancer Blood Test with 94 Percent Accuracy

Circulating Chromosome Conformation Signatures Significantly Enhance PSA Positive Predicting Value and Overall Accuracy for Prostate Cancer Detection

Invention: A Blood Test to Unlock Prostate Cancer Mysteries

Prostate Cancer Extracellular Vesicle Digital Scoring Assay: A Rapid Noninvasive Approach for Quantification of Disease-relevant mRNAs

Could a Urine Test Detect Pancreatic and Prostate Cancer? Study Shows 99% Success Rate

University of East Anglia Researchers Develop Non-Invasive Prostate Cancer Urine Test

UPMC Researchers Develop Artificial Intelligence Algorithm That Detects Prostate Cancer with ‘Near Perfect Accuracy’ in Effort to Improve How Pathologists Diagnose Cancer

UCF Researchers Develop an Optical Sensor That Identifies Viruses in Blood Samples in Seconds with 95% Accuracy

New nanotechnology device is significantly faster than typical rapid detection clinical laboratory tests and can be manufactured to identify not just COVID-19 at point of care, but other viruses as well

Researchers at the University of Central Florida (UCF) announced the development of an optical sensor that uses nanotechnology to identify viruses in blood samples in seconds with an impressive 95% accuracy. This breakthrough underscores the value of continued research into technologies that create novel diagnostic tests which offer increased accuracy, faster speed to answer, and lower cost than currently available clinical laboratory testing methods.

The innovative UCF device uses nanoscale patterns of gold that reflect the signature of a virus from a blood sample. UCF researchers claim the device can determine if an individual has a specific virus with a 95% accuracy rate. Different viruses can be identified by using their DNA sequences to selectively target each virus.

According to a UCF Today article, the University of Central Florida research team’s device closely matches the accuracy of widely-used polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. Additionally, the UCF device provides nearly instantaneous results and has an accuracy rate that’s a marked improvement over typical rapid antigen detection tests (RADT).

However, both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have cautioned that rapid antigen tests could produce inaccurate test results if viral loads are low or test instructions are not followed properly.

The UCF researchers published their findings in the journal Nano Letters, titled, “DNA-Modified Plasmonic Sensor for the Direct Detection of Virus Biomarkers from the Blood.”

Debashis Chanda, PhD
Debashis Chanda, PhD (above), holds up the nanotechnology biosensor he and his team at the University of Central Florida developed that can detect viruses in a blood sample in seconds with 95% accuracy and without the need for pre-preparation of the blood sample. Chanda is professor of physics at the NanoScience Technology Center and the College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL) at UCF. Should this detection device prove effective at instantly detecting viruses at the point of care, clinical laboratories worldwide could have a major new tool in the fight against not just COVID-19, but all viral pathogens. (Photo copyright: University of Central Florida.)

Genetic Virus Detection on a Chip

“The sensitive optical sensor, along with the rapid fabrication approach used in this work, promises the translation of this promising technology to any virus detection, including COVID-19 and its mutations, with high degree of specificity and accuracy,” Debashis Chanda, PhD, told UCF Today. Chanda is professor of physics at the NanoScience Technology Center at UCF and one of the authors of the study. “Here, we demonstrated a credible technique which combines PCR-like genetic coding and optics on a chip for accurate virus detection directly from blood.”

The team tested their device using samples of the Dengue virus that causes Dengue fever, a tropical disease spread by mosquitoes. The device can detect viruses directly from blood samples without the need for sample preparation or purification. This feature enables the testing to be timely and precise, which is critical for early detection and treatment of viruses. The chip’s capability also can help reduce the spread of viruses.

No Pre-processing or Sample Preparation Needed for Multi-virus Testing

The scientists confirmed their device’s effectiveness with multiple tests using varying virus concentration levels and solution environments, including environments with the presence of non-target virus biomarkers.

“A vast majority of biosensors demonstrations in the literature utilize buffer solutions as the test matrix to contain the target analyte,” Chanda told UCF Today. “However, these approaches are not practical in real-life applications because complex biological fluids, such as blood, containing the target biomarkers are the main source for sensing and at the same time the main source of protein fouling leading to sensor failure.”

The researchers believe their device can be easily adapted to detect other viruses and are optimistic about the future of the technology.

“Although there have been previous optical biosensing demonstrations in human serum, they still require off-line complex and dedicated sample preparation performed by skilled personnel—a commodity not available in typical point-of-care applications,” said Abraham Vazquez-Guardado, PhD, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University who worked on the study, in the UCS Today article. “This work demonstrated for the first time an integrated device which separated plasma from the blood and detects the target virus without any pre-processing with potential for near future practical usages.”

More research and additional studies are needed to develop the University of Central Florida scientists’ technology and prove its efficacy. However, should the new chip prove viable for point-of-care testing, it would give clinical laboratories and microbiologists an ability to test blood samples without any advanced preparation. Combined with the claims for the device’s remarkable accuracy, that could be a boon not only for COVID-19 testing, but for testing other types of viruses as well.

JP Schlingman

Related Information:

UCF Researchers Develop Rapid, Highly Accurate Test to Detect Viruses like COVID-19

Researchers Develop Rapid, Highly Accurate Virus Detection Test

DNA-Modified Plasmonic Sensor for the Direct Detection of Virus Biomarkers from the Blood

Proof-of-Concept Study at University of Colorado Boulder Shows Dynamic Tattoos Can Help Detect and Track Health Issues

If tattoos can accurately be used in the diagnostic process, might clinical laboratories soon offer these types of diagnostic tattoos at their patient service centers?

Could color-changing tattoos help diagnose illnesses? Researchers at the ATLAS Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder think so. They are working on prototypes of permanent tattoos that can detect chemical changes in the body and smart tattoo ink that would take the concept of wearable medical devices to a whole new level.

Called “dynamic” or “smart” tattoos, these color-changing tattoos have a biomedical purpose. They alert individuals to potential health issues due to changes in the biochemistry in their body. The technology has already been used in animal studies to detect sodium, glucose, electrolytes, and pH levels. Pathologists and clinical lab manager will recognize the value of a relatively non-invasive way to measure and track changes in these types of biomarkers.

The ATLAS Institute published its findings in ACS Nano, a publication of the American Chemical Society, titled, “Solar Freckles: Long-Term Photochromic Tattoos for Intradermal Ultraviolet Radiometry.”

“We developed a photochromic tattoo that serves as an intradermal ultraviolet (UV) radiometer that provides naked-eye feedback about UV exposure in real time. These small tattoos, or ‘solar freckles’, comprise dermally implanted colorimetric UV sensors in the form of nano encapsulated leuco dyes that become more blue in color with increasing UV irradiance,” the ATLAS scientists wrote.

Studies analyzing the efficacy of dynamic tattoos have provided strong evidence that they can be engineered to change color and sense and convey medical information. This field is called “dynamic tattoos” and in recent years various proof-of-concept studies have demonstrated that tattoos can be used to “pick up changes in sodium, glucose, electrolytes or pH levels in animal models,” Labroots reported.

“We demonstrate the tattoos’ functionality for both quantitative and naked-eye UV sensing in porcine skin ex vivo, as well as in human skin in vivo. Solar freckles offer an alternative and complementary approach to self-monitoring UV exposure for the sake of skin cancer prevention,” the researchers explained in their ACS Nano article.

“Activated solar freckles provide a visual reminder to protect the skin, and their color disappears rapidly upon removal of UV exposure or application of topical sunscreen. The sensors are implanted in a minimally invasive procedure that lasts only a few seconds yet remain functional for months to years,” they added.

“These semipermanent tattoos provide an early proof-of-concept for long-term intradermal sensing nanomaterials that provide users with biomedically relevant information in the form of an observable color change,” the ATLAS researchers concluded.

Nanotechnology Gives Dynamic Tattoos Functionality

“When you think about what a tattoo is, it’s just a bunch of particles that sit in your skin,” Carson Bruns, PhD, Assistant Professor, Laboratory for Emergent Nanomaterials, ATLAS Institute, Mechanical Engineering, told Technology.org. “Our thought is: What if we use nanotechnology to give these particles some function?”

The invisible tattoos Bruns and the ATLAS team created turn blue in the presence of harmful levels of ultraviolet radiation to inform wearers that their skin needs protection and to apply or reapply sunscreen.

Carson Bruns, PhD

“I have always been interested in both art and science. My favorite type of art is tattooing and my favorite type of science is nanotechnology,” Carson Bruns, PhD (above), Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, ATLAS Institute, told Inked. “When I had an opportunity to start a new research program, I thought it would be really fun and interesting to try and put the two together.” Might innovative medical laboratories one day operate “tattoo parlors” in their patient service centers to provide patients with tattoos that monitor key biometrics? (Photo copyright: Inked.)

The tattoo ink used for these tattoos contains a UV-activated dye inside of a plastic nano capsule that is less than a thousandth of a millimeter in size, or several sizes smaller than the width of a human hair. The capsules protect the dyes from wear and tear while allowing them to sense and respond to biochemical changes in the body. These tattoos are implanted into the skin using tattoo machines, much like getting a regular tattoo.

“I call them solar freckles because they’re like invisible freckles that are powered by sunshine,” Bruns told Inked, adding, “Millions of cases of preventable skin cancer are treated every year. I hope that the UV-sensitive tattoo will help us reduce the number of those cases by reminding people when their skin is exposed to unsafe levels of UV light.”

Dynamic Tattoos May Help People Lead Healthier Lives

One downside to these tattoos is that they only last a few months before they begin to degrade, requiring the wearer to get a “booster” tattoo.

The researchers hope that someday similar tattoo technologies will be applied to a wide variety of preventative and diagnostic applications. The goal is to enable people to detect health issues and allow them to lead healthier lives. 

“We want to make tattoos that will allow you to, for example, sense things that you can’t currently sense,” Bruns told Inked. “Sometimes I joke that we want to make tattoos that give you superpowers.”

The ATLAS scientists imagine a future where tattoos can detect things like blood alcohol levels or high/low blood sugar levels or other changes in a person’s biochemistry.

“More generally, I hope that smart tattoos will help people stay healthy and more informed about their body, while also giving people new ways to express themselves creatively,” Bruns said.

Using Dynamic Tattoo to Detect Cancer

In 2018, a team of biologists created a tattoo comprised of engineered skin cells and an implantable sensor which could detect elevated blood calcium levels that are present in many types of cancers. These cancer-detecting tattoos were tested on living mice and would darken to notify researchers of potential problems.

Scientists at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ), Switzerland, developed a biomedical tattoo that uses bio sensitive ink and changes color based on variations in the body’s interstitial fluid. It recognizes four widespread cancers:

  • breast,
  • colon,
  • lung, and
  • prostate.

“Nowadays, people generally go to the doctor only when the tumor begins to cause problems. Unfortunately, by that point it is often too late,” Martin Fussenegger, PhD, Professor of Biotechnology and Bioengineering at the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-​BSSE) of the ETH Zurich in Basel as well as at the University of Basel, told Medical News Today.

“For example, if breast cancer is detected early, the chance of recovery is 98%,” he continued. “However, if the tumor is diagnosed too late, only one in four women has a good chance of recovery.”

Fussenegger and his team hope their specialized biomedical tattoo may help detect the presence of cancer cells early and significantly improve patient outcomes. They published the results of their research in the journal Science Translational Medicine, titled, “Synthetic Biology-Based Cellular Biomedical Tattoo for Detection of Hypercalcemia Associated with Cancer.”

Though it appears that dynamic tattoos may be a functional and decorative way to track health, rigorous research and safety testing on human subjects will be required before clinical laboratories can set up diagnostic tattoo parlors in their offices.

Nevertheless, this concept demonstrates how different technologies under development may provide clinical laboratories with innovative and unusual diagnostic tools in the future.

JP Schlingman

Related Information

A Smart Tattoo That Could Save Your Life

‘Smart’ Tattoo Inks That Could Save Your Life

Color-changing Tattoos? One Could Save Your Life

Solar Freckles: Long-Term Photochromic Tattoos for Intradermal Ultraviolet Radiometry

Inked Talks to the Creator of the New “Smart Tattoo” That Can Indicate When You Need to Reapply Sunscreen

‘Chameleon’ Tattoos Change Color, May Help Diagnose Illness

Dynamic Tattoos Promise to Warn Wearers of Health Threats

Epidermal Electronics—A Step Closer to Wearable Diagnostic ‘Labs’

‘Biomedical Tattoo’ Might Catch Cancer Early

Synthetic Biology-based Cellular Biomedical Tattoo for Detection of Hypercalcemia Associated with Cancer

In the Field of Nano-Scale Diagnostics, Many Researchers Are Developing ‘Lab-on-Skin’ Technologies That Can Monitor Many Clinical Laboratory Biomarkers

Lab-on-skin is the latest concept to join the lab-on-a-chip, lab-in-a-needle, and lab-on-paper field, as researchers continue to seek ways to miniaturize medical laboratory tests

Move over, lab-on-a-chip and lab-on-paper. There’s a new diagnostic technology in research labs that is gaining credibility. It is called lab-on-skin technology and some scientists are quite excited about how it might be used for a variety of clinical purposes.

A recent story published in ACS Nano titled, “Lab-on-Skin: A Review of Flexible and Stretchable Electronics for Wearable Health Monitoring,” reviews the latest advancements in lab-on-skin technology. It provides an overview of different research initiatives incorporating lab-on-skin technologies.

From telehealth to precision medicine to point-of-care mobile devices, anatomic pathologist and clinical laboratories are about to be challenged with new diagnostic technologies. These technologies are intended to streamline the workflow between physicians and medical laboratories while improving access to patient data and medical laboratory test results.

Of all the mobile devices designed to support medical care, no technology may have more potential to change the pathology profession than nanotechnology-based diagnostic devices. Whether lab-on-a-chip, lab-in-a-needle, or lab-on-paper, these miniature laboratories are so small dozens can be carried in a pocket.

Most importantly, for certain diagnostic tests, some of these devices being developed hope to deliver full-size-lab quality results accurately and inexpensively, even in rural regions and areas with little or no resources, such as electricity or water. (See Dark Daily, “Lab-on-a-Chip Diagnostics: When Will Clinical Laboratories See the Revolution?” September 9, 2016.)

Now, researchers have demonstrated that even biomarkers within human skin can be tested by medical wearable devices. “Lab-on-skin” has entered the pathology vernacular.

Lab-on-Skin Constantly Measures Physiological Data

According to ACS Nano, lab-on-skin devices are small electronic patches worn directly on the skin that noninvasively measure a variety of physiological data. These flexible gadgets can interpret information including:

  • body temperature;
  • blood oxygenation;
  • hydration;
  • blood pressure;
  • glucose;
  • potassium;
  • sodium; and,
  • lactate and pH levels in individuals.

The devices may also be used for wound care, prosthetics and rehabilitation, as well as for optogenetics and human-machine interfaces (HMI).

The image above from the ACS Nano article demonstrates various lab-on-skin devices, including: an NFC tattoo with a bare die chip mounted on an acrylic adhesive film; a soft radio sensor with commercial chips encapsulated in a fluid/ecoflex package; and, a sweat sensor on silicone foam. Each of these devices could be capable of delivering actionable diagnostic data to anatomic pathologists and clinical laboratories. (Image copyright: ACS Nano.)

Lab-on-skin technology can be utilized to read electrophysiological signals typically measured by electrodes placed on various parts of the body, such as:

The direct connection between the patches and the skin allows for continuous and precise data collection without the threat of drying out that comes with traditional electrodes.

Nanotechnology Driving Clinical Laboratory Diagnostic Applications

Because it is the largest organ in the body, skin provides a perfect pathway to convey biological information originating from various parts of the body, such as inner organs, muscles, blood vessels, and the dermis and epidermis.

The ACS Nano article discusses advancements in the designs and materials used for lab-on-skin patches. In addition to the term “lab-on-skin,” these devices may also be referred to as electronic skin, epidermal electronics, and electronic tattoos. They have untapped potential in a variety of clinical applications, including:

For example, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have created an epidermal nanotechnology device that utilizes sensors and wireless interfaces to measure ultraviolet (UV) exposure, a risk factor for skin cancers.

“Our goal with this research is to establish a set of foundational materials and device designs for systems that can improve health outcomes by providing information on UV exposure,” John A. Rogers, PhD, and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor of Chemistry told Nanowerk Spotlight.

Nanotechnology employs extremely small particles performed at the nanoscale (about 1 to 100 nanometers). This field is emerging as a vital element behind cutting-edge innovations in medicine and healthcare.

“We developed new chemistries that yield color changes that quantitatively relate to total exposure dose, separately in both the UV-A and UV-B regions of the solar spectrum,” explained Rogers. “Our formulations have the additional advantage that they provide soft, low modulus mechanics to enhance comfort and biocompatibility with the skin surface.”

Mini-Laboratory Devices Could Push Pathology Data to Clinical Laboratories

The combination of using lab-on-skin devices with nanotechnology can provide researchers and medical professionals a multifunctional and valuable tool for health monitoring and the diagnosis of diseases. However, more research and clinical studies are needed to establish the validity of using lab-on-skin devices in healthcare applications.

Nevertheless, clinical laboratories and pathology groups will be handling more data in the future, generated by these miniature laboratory devices. Their usefulness, especially in challenging healthcare environments, is only beginning to be fully discovered.

—JP Schlingman

Related Information:

A Lab-on-Skin: A Review of Flexible and Stretchable Electronics for Wearable Health Monitoring (downloadable PDF)

Lab-on-Skin: A Review of Flexible and Stretchable Electronics for Wearable Health Monitoring (original ACS Nano article)

Lab-on-Skin: Nanotechnology Electronics for Wearable Health Monitoring

Stick-on Epidermal Electronics Tattoo to Measure UV Exposure

Nanotechnology in Healthcare (Part 1: Fitness Monitoring, Diagnostics and Prevention)

Nanotechnology in Healthcare (Part 2: Nanomedicine Therapy)

Breathable, Wearable Electronics on Skin for Long-term Health Monitoring

Nano-chip Promises to Heal Organs at a Touch

IBM and Mount Sinai Researchers Develop Innovative Medical Lab-on-a-Chip Solution

Lab-on-a-Chip Diagnostics: When Will Clinical Laboratories See the Revolution?

Researchers at University of Rhode Island Unveil Lab-on-Paper Test Capable of Multireagent Diagnostics: Could Enable ‘Diagnostics Without the Lab’ Say Developers

Sleek ‘Lab in a Needle’ Is an All-in-One Device That Detects Liver Toxicity in Minutes during a Study, Showing Potential to Supplant Some Medical Laboratory Tests

 

Clinical Laboratories Could Soon Diagnose 17 Diseases with a Single Breath Analyzer Test from Israel’s Institute of Technology

The Technion breathalyzer would give pathology groups and medical laboratories unprecedented ability to support physicians in diagnosing and treating cancers, chronic diseases, and other illnesses

Readers of Dark Daily know that several pathology research teams in America and the UK are developing breath analyzer tests that can detect everything from lung cancer to early-stage infections. Clinical laboratories will soon have a plethora of breath-related tests from which to choose. Now there’s a new kid on the block. A breathalyzer test that can detect up to 17 distinct cancerous, inflammatory, and neurological diseases!

Assuming the cost per test was at a competitive level to existing technologies, what would give this new diagnostic system appeal to physicians and patients alike is that it would be a non-invasive way to diagnose disease. Only a sample of the patient’s breath would be needed to perform the assays.

Researchers at the Israel Institute of Technology, or Technion, published the results of their study in ACS Nano, a monthly journal of the American Chemical Society devoted to “nanoscience and nanotechnology research at the interfaces of chemistry, biology, materials science, physics, and engineering.” (more…)

;