Sensor measures individual particles in a blood sample

Blood contains several hundred different proteins that give an indication of general health, providing information about the condition of our heart or the presence of cancer.

Currently, when doctors are given a blood sample for a comprehensive check, it can only be analysed for five or six indicators such as blood percentages, blood sugar and infections. For other test results, the sample must be sent to a laboratory for analysis and it can take up to a week before the results come back.

Four years ago, SINTEF began a joint project with Stanford University and the University of Oslo (UiO). The aim was to build a sensor that could improve sensitivity by a million-fold, making it possible to measure individual particles in the blood, including proteins at extremely low concentrations, as well as DNA and RNA (ribonucleic acid) molecules.

The result is a new nanoparticle sensor developed in MiNaLab in Oslo that comprises a thin silicon membrane perforated with hundreds of small holes arranged in a regular pattern.