Tiny diagnostic device developed

Engineers at Leeds University have developed a diagnostic device that is much smaller than current models and can work with smaller samples, but is just as accurate.

Diagnostic devices work by identifying certain proteins in blood or urine that are associated with certain diseases. The Leeds device is more than ten times smaller than existing models, and the researchers believe the technology could allow them to reduce the size further still, allowing it to be used with even smaller samples - especially important with newborn babies, for example.

The researchers used an array of electrodes as the base of their device rather than a conventional glass slide. The individual electrodes are created using the same technology used to produce microchips, allowing them to be spaced 10 micrometers or less apart.

Conventional techniques use antibodies as receptors, but these can prove unstable. The new device uses an artificial robust antibody called a ‘peptide aptamer’ that can be attached to the electrodes and still bind to a specific target protein.