Scottish team demonstrates Star-Trek inspired diagnostic device

Inspired by Star Trek's famed Tricorder, the Glasgow group’s multicorder device – described in in a paper published in the journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics, pairs a handheld sensor with a smartphone app to measure the levels of various metabolites in fluid samples from patients.

Metabolites are small molecules found in fluids from the human body. By measuring and monitoring their relative abundance, scientists can keep track of general heath or the progression of specific diseases.

The ability to rapidly detect and quantify multiple metabolite biomarkers simultaneously makes this device particularly useful in cases of heart attack, cancer and stroke, where rapid diagnosis is vital for effective treatment.

Metabolites can be measured by existing processes such as nuclear magnetic resonance and hyphenated mass spectrometry techniques, but both approaches are expensive and require bulky equipment that can be slow to offer diagnostic results.

The new device is built around a new form of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) chip. CMOS chips are inexpensive to produce and are often used in imaging devices.