(STUDY FINDS) – Science fiction is about to become reality. Scientists have developed a cutting-edge device capable of performing multiple medical tests at the same time. This laser biosensor, reminiscent of the Starfleet tricorder from “Star Trek,” can analyze diverse particles simultaneously, including viruses and DNA.
The portable, high-tech device can identify the faintest traces of a specific virus, antibody, or protein marker for certain cancers in a blood sample. It may even be able to detect airborne chemical warfare agents at levels far below toxicity. In experiments, the device successfully detected a mix of nanobeads across eight orders of magnitude, expanding potential concentration levels by more than 10,000 times.
“This work is our latest step in developing integrated optofluidic sensing devices that are sensitive enough to detect single biomolecules and work over a very wide range of concentrations,” says Dr. Holger Schmidt from the University of California-Santa Cruz, the project’s lead author, in a media release. “We have shown that this can be done with a single method, which allows us to simultaneously measure and distinguish multiple particle types at once even if they have very different concentrations.”
The post Star Trek-style invention carries out multiple medical tests like Mr. Spock's tricorder appeared first on WND.
