Using plastic tubes that are about the same size as capillaries in blood vessels researchers have devised a way to detect diseases with the naked eye
When someone develops liver cancer, the disease introduces a very subtle difference to their blood-stream, increasing the concentration of a partiular molecule by just 10 parts per billion.
That small shifts is difficult to detect without sophisticated lab equipment - but perhaps not for long. A new "lab on a chip" designed by Brigham Young University professor Adam Woolley and his students reveals the presence of ultra-low concentrations of a target molecule.
As the BYU researchers report in the journal Analytical Chemistry, their experiments detected as little as a single nanogram - one billionth of a gram - of the target molecule from a drop of liquid.
And instead of sending the sample to a lab for a chemical analysis, the chip allows them to measure with such precision using their own eyes.
"The nice thing about the system that we have developed anywhere," Wooley said. "Somebody could put the sample in, look at it, and have the result they need."
The tricks is to line a tiny pipe with receptors that catch a specific molecule and allow others to pass by. When a drop of liquid is placed on the clear chip, capillary action draws the fluid through the channel, flowing up to one centimeter per second. As more of the target molecules are snagged by the receptors, the space constricts and eventually stops the flow.
How far the sample flows is a direct indication of the cencentration of the target molecule (higher concentration= longer distance).
"The accuracy gained with this system should make it competitive with more expensive and complicated immunoassay systems," said Chuck Henry, a chemist at Colorado State University who was not affiliated with the project. Woolley and his students hope their prototype will work as a blueprint for making inexpensive diagnostic tests for a variety of diseases and genetic disorders.
"There are a lot of molecules associated with diseases where concentrations around a nanogram per milliliter or less in blood are the difference between a disease state versus a healthy state," Woolley said.
Led by graduate student Debolina Chatterjee of New Delhi, four students worked on the project. She and fellow grad student Danielle Mansfield mentored two undergradutes on the project, Neil Anderson and Sudeep Subedi.
When someone develops liver cancer, the disease introduces a very subtle difference to their blood-stream, increasing the concentration of a partiular molecule by just 10 parts per billion.
As the BYU researchers report in the journal Analytical Chemistry, their experiments detected as little as a single nanogram - one billionth of a gram - of the target molecule from a drop of liquid.
And instead of sending the sample to a lab for a chemical analysis, the chip allows them to measure with such precision using their own eyes.
"The nice thing about the system that we have developed anywhere," Wooley said. "Somebody could put the sample in, look at it, and have the result they need."
The tricks is to line a tiny pipe with receptors that catch a specific molecule and allow others to pass by. When a drop of liquid is placed on the clear chip, capillary action draws the fluid through the channel, flowing up to one centimeter per second. As more of the target molecules are snagged by the receptors, the space constricts and eventually stops the flow.
How far the sample flows is a direct indication of the cencentration of the target molecule (higher concentration= longer distance).
"The accuracy gained with this system should make it competitive with more expensive and complicated immunoassay systems," said Chuck Henry, a chemist at Colorado State University who was not affiliated with the project. Woolley and his students hope their prototype will work as a blueprint for making inexpensive diagnostic tests for a variety of diseases and genetic disorders.
"There are a lot of molecules associated with diseases where concentrations around a nanogram per milliliter or less in blood are the difference between a disease state versus a healthy state," Woolley said.
Led by graduate student Debolina Chatterjee of New Delhi, four students worked on the project. She and fellow grad student Danielle Mansfield mentored two undergradutes on the project, Neil Anderson and Sudeep Subedi.
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