Small device can measure blood chemistry and detect pathogens
VANCOUVER — Engineers at the University of British Columbia Okanagan have devised a hand-held medical lab capable of detecting viruses, measuring blood glucose levels and finding food-borne pathogens or even weapons of mass destruction.
A durable field unit based on the current prototype — which harnesses the computing power and imaging capabilities of an ordinary smartphone via a Bluetooth connection — could cost as little as $100 to build, according to Homayoun Najjaran, an associate professor of engineering who is leading the development of the device.
“We saw something very much like this in the late ’60s on Star Trek,” said Najjaran. “It was a hand-held device that could monitor the health condition of a patient; that’s what we are working on now.”
The fictional tricorder used by Dr. Leonard McCoy in the influential science fiction series was capable of detecting harmful pathogens and analyzing blood chemistry. All those functions could soon be employed in the real world, especially in remote or impoverished locales without access to medical laboratories.
The heart of the device is a processor — essentially a lab on a chip — that uses electrical fields to manipulate and distribute small amounts of liquid to a series of programmable cells from a tiny sample, such as a single drop of blood or saliva. Each cell can be programmed to perform a different function.
Blood chemistry may be measured through electrical signals and pathogens detected through digital imaging using artificial antibodies or nanoparticles that seek and attach themselves to specific pathogens to make them visible in the sample.
The device could easily be adapted to detect chemical weapons, said Najjaran.
Best of all, the chips can be printed in conductive ink on disposable paper cards for just pennies apiece.
The researchers hope to develop a chip that will simultaneously detect HIV and tuberculosis, but the technology could be adapted to other viruses such as hepatitis and food- and water-borne bacteria such as E. coli and listeria.
“We have a proposal under review with the Qatar Foundation to devise a test for TB and HIV together,” he said. “TB by itself is curable and HIV is manageable, but when they come together they create a much bigger medical challenge.”
The researchers are seeking an industry partner to bring the device into production as a commercial off-the-shelf device, even as they collaborate with colleagues in other departments at UBC, Carleton and McGill to develop applications for the technology.
“I think this will have wide applications for point-of-care testing in any environment,” he said.
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