A team of researchers has developed a device connected to a smartphone, capable of detecting the presence of cancer biomarkers.
You have a missed call … and lung cancer. Tomorrow, cell phones will no longer just connect us to each other, they will also tell us about our medical diagnoses, according to recent work published in the journal. Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
Researchers at the University of Washington have developed a tool for smartphones, a kind of portable laboratory capable of analyzing samples and detecting the presence of cancer biomarkers.
Prostate, lung, liver, breast …
The device in question is a connected spectrometer capable of analyzing levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), a known biomarker of prostate, lung, liver, breast and epithelial cancers. The efficiency of the device stands at 99%, according to the researchers, who however only tested it in the laboratory – research is currently being carried out in real conditions.
The spectrometer can analyze up to eight samples at the same time – this is what is new. Indeed, similar devices had already been developed but with a capacity reduced to a single sample, which “makes them ineffective for an application in real conditions”, specifies the University in a report. communicated.
Hospitals, isolated areas …
The eight spectrometry channels thus make it possible to “place eight different samples to carry out the same test, or a single sample to carry out eight different tests”, specify the authors, who underline the usefulness of this miniature cancer detector for “hospitals which have many samples to analyze but no laboratory on their site, for doctors who practice abroad, or in isolated regions ”.
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