Washington, Nov 03: Scientists have created what
they claim is a "credit card-swipe" device that could test for
hundreds of diseases simultaneously.
A team at Utah University has produced the sensitive
prototype device which could check for multiple diseases at a
time by acting like a credit card-swipe machine to scan a card
loaded with microscopic blood, saliva or urine samples.
And, unlike lab tests, results could be available in
minutes, not hours to weeks.
According to the scientists, the prototype works on
the same principle -- giant magnetoresistance or GMR -- that`s
used to read data on computer hard drives or listen to tunes
on portable digital music players.
"Think how fast your PC reads data on a hard drive,
and imagine using the same technology to monitor your health,"
lead researcher Marc Porter was quoted by the `ScienceDaily`
as saying.
Added co-author Michael Granger: "You can envision
this as a wellness check in which a patient sample -- blood,
urine, saliva -- is spotted on a sample stick or card, scanned
and then the readout indicates your state of well-being. We
have a great sensor able to look for many disease markers."
In their study, the scientists found the method was
very sensitive, detecting as few as 800 microscopic particles
that mimicked disease related substances.
"GMR`s capability to detect a single particle of a
biological substance is just over the horizon which could be
used to test blood or other samples for viruses that can cause
disease in minute concentrations," Porter said.
The findings are published in the latest edition of
the `Analytical Chemistry` journal.
Bureau Report
