Researchers have used nanomaterials to develop a microchip sensitive enough to quickly determine the type and severity of a patient's cancer, so that the disease can be detected earlier for more effective treatment.
The new device can sense the signature biomarkers that indicate the presence of cancer at the cellular level, even though these biomolecules are generally present only at low levels. Analysis can be completed in 30 minutes, a vast improvement over the existing diagnostic procedures that can take days.
It has been tested on prostate cancer and head and neck cancer models. It could potentially be used to diagnose and assess other cancers, as well as infectious diseases such as HIV, MRSA and H1N1 flu.