Doctor on a chip
Molecular Vision has developed a hand-held device that could bring low-cost diagnostics for cardiac and other conditions into the GP's consulting room or the home.
Imperial College London spin-out
has developed a hand-held device that could bring low-cost diagnostics for cardiac and other conditions into the GP's consulting room or the home.
The patented system combines microfluidic lab-on-a-chip technology with light-emitting polymers (LEPs) and photodetectors to carry out a battery of medical tests simultaneously. The chip incorporates up to 10 channels, allowing the level of multiple analytes to be measured simultaneously alongside internal controls and reference samples. It does this by measuring absorbance, fluorescence, chemiluminescence and phosphorescence.
Ian Campbell, Molecular Vision's chief executive, said: 'Essentially we have an organic polymer that can be deposited on both the top and bottom sides of the microfluidics. The top polymer acts as a light-emitting diode, so when a current in the slide passes through the polymer it lights up. The polymer at the bottom acts as a photon receiver and translates the signal from light to amps. The amount of signal it receives is proportional to the amount of active material in the sample, which can then be displayed on a readout.'
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