Microchip technology for medical imaging

A collaboration between scientists at UCLA, Caltech, Stanford, Siemens and Fluidigm have developed a new technology using integrated microfluidics chips for simplifying, lowering the cost and diversifying the types of molecules used to image the biology of disease with the medical imaging technology, Positron Emission Tomography (PET).

These molecules are used with PET to diagnostically search throughout the body to look for (image) the molecular errors of disease and to guide the development of new molecular therapeutics.

PET is a new generation of medical imaging for examining the biology of disease that has been shown to dramatically improve the detection of cancer, stage the extent of cancer throughout the body, detect recurrence of cancer and to help select the right therapy for individual patients.

In Alzheimer’s disease, PET has been shown to have a 93% accuracy in detecting Alzheimer’s about three years before the conventional diagnosis of “Probable Alzheimer’s”, when integrated into the clinical workup of patients. In addition, PET has been shown to detect Alzheimer’s and other neurological disease years before even symptoms are expressed. PET is also employed to determine which patients with cardiovascular disease will benefit from bypass surgery and angioplasty.