Lab-on-chip device promises early stage cancer diagnosis

The device, which utilises advances in plasmonics, nanofabrication, microfluids and surface chemistry, is expected to hasten diagnosis of the disease in its earliest stages.

According to a statement, the cancer-tracking nanodevice shows great promise as a tool for future cancer treatments, not only because of its reliability, sensitivity and potential low cost, but also because of its easy carry-on portable properties, which is foreseen to facilitate effective diagnosis and suitable treatment procedures in remote places with difficult access to hospitals or medical clinics.

Although very compact, the lab-on-a-chip hosts various sensing sites distributed across a network of fluidic micro-channels that enables it to conduct multiple analyses.

Gold nanoparticles lie on the surface of the chip and are chemically programed with an antibody receptor in such a way that they are capable of specifically attracting the protein markers circulating in blood.

When a drop of blood is injected into the chip, it circulates through the micro-channels and if cancer markers are present in the blood, they will stick to the nanoparticles located on the micro-channels as they pass by, setting off changes called plasmonic resonance.