Reusable ‘lab on a chip’ developed
13 Feb 2017 by qwwqdccwwm.d qwwqdccwwm.d
Scientists have developed a method to produce a cheap and reusable diagnostic ‘lab on a chip’, that costs as little as one cent a chip, using an ordinary printer.
Scientists have developed a method to produce a cheap and reusable diagnostic ‘lab on a chip’, that costs as little as one cent a chip, using an ordinary printer.
Designed to handle small-volume samples for a varied number of assays, it can isolate rare cells and count them. The researchers believe this technology could herald a medical diagnostic revolution - similar to low-cost genomic sequencing.Rahim Esfandyarpour, an engineering research associate at Stanford University Medical Centre and lead author, said: “Enabling early detection of diseases is one of the greatest opportunities we have for developing effective treatments.”
The lab on a chip is a two-part system. The first is a clear silicone microfluidic chamber for housing cells the second is a reusable electronic strip. This is complemented by a regular inkjet printer, able to print the electronic strip onto a flexible sheet of polyester, using nanoparticle ink. A chip can be produced in about 20 minutes.
These miniature diagnostic tools are multifunctional, so different cell types can be analysed without the need for fluorescent or magnetic labelling. An electrical field is applied across the printed strip and the cells separate according to their electrical properties - a process called dielectrophoresis.
This invention has the ability to improve diagnosis rates of certain cancers and diseases in low-income countries as low detection rates mean breast cancer survival is half that of more developed countries. The chip can detect other diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV. It is able to work outside of a clean room and without special training to operate it.
Professor Ron Davis, director of the Stanford Genome Technology Centre and senior author, said: “The genome project has changed the way an awful lot of medicine is done, and we want to continue that with all sorts of other technology that are just really inexpensive and accessible.”Other potential uses for the chip include detecting tumour cells in the bloodstream and manipulating stem cells to achieve efficient gene transfer.
The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.