Research & Development World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE

Miniature Device Improves Disease Diagnostics

By Kenny Walter | June 30, 2017

A new device, the size of a postage stamp, may improve the efficiency in which clinicians can diagnose diseases.

Shivani Sathish, a Ph.D. student at Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University, led a team to develop a new printing stamp made of polydimethylsiloxane—a flexible solid similar to the rubber used in everyday stamps—to create the new diagnostic tool.

The team also developed an ink solution composed of molecules containing silicon and oxide called APTES and a surface out of glass.

After a short incubation, researchers coated the stamp with the ink and pressed it onto the glass.

They then sealed over glass a microfluidic device containing one or more microchannels configured to guide fluid through specific pathways. Bioreceptors are then chemically linked to the APTES regions within the microfluidic channels.

To diagnose a patient a fluid sample is delivered through the microfluidic device attached to the glass and if the pertinent disease biomarker is present, the molecule will stick to the areas containing the bioreceptors.

Sathish said one stamp can be used to prepare an assay with the ability to immobilize a variety of different bioreceptors, allowing for multiple tests and diagnoses on a single surface.

“Depending on your bioreceptor of interest, you just have to choose the appropriate chemistry to link the molecule with the APTES,” Sathish said in a statement. “If you get your bioreceptors pre-immobilized within microfluidic devices you can then use them as diagnostic tools as and when required.

“[Eventually] instead of having a whole clinical team that processes your sample…we’re hoping that the patients can do it themselves at home,” she added.

The industry currently uses microfluidic bioassay devices to diagnose diseases, which allow clinicians to measure the concentration of disease biomarkers within a patient’s biological sample such as blood.

These devices indicate the likelihood of a disease based on a comparison of the biomarker concentration in the sample relative to the normal level. The patient’s blood is passed across a surface containing immobilized bioreceptors that allow the research to record the abundance of the biomarkers and determine whether the level is normal.

However, the efficiency of the devices relies on how intact and functional the attached bioreceptors are, making it difficult to immobilize the bioreceptors without causing damage.

Related Articles Read More >

Eli Lilly facility
9 R&D developments this week: Lilly builds major R&D center, Stratolaunch tests hypersonic craft, IBM chief urges AI R&D funding
professional photo of wooly mammoth in nature --ar 2:1 --personalize sq85hce --v 6.1 Job ID: 47185eaa-b213-4624-8bee-44f9e882feaa
Why science ethicists are sounding skepticism and alarm on ‘de-extinction’
ALAFIA system speeds complex molecular simulations for University of Miami drug research
3d rendered illustration of the anatomy of a cancer cell
Funding flows to obesity, oncology and immunology: 2024 sales data show where science is paying off
rd newsletter
EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND STAY CONNECTED
Get the latest info on technologies, trends, and strategies in Research & Development.
RD 25 Power Index

R&D World Digital Issues

Fall 2024 issue

Browse the most current issue of R&D World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading R&D magazine today.

Research & Development World
  • Subscribe to R&D World Magazine
  • Enews Sign Up
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Drug Discovery & Development
  • Pharmaceutical Processing
  • Global Funding Forecast

Copyright © 2025 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search R&D World

  • R&D World Home
  • Topics
    • Aerospace
    • Automotive
    • Biotech
    • Careers
    • Chemistry
    • Environment
    • Energy
    • Life Science
    • Material Science
    • R&D Management
    • Physics
  • Technology
    • 3D Printing
    • A.I./Robotics
    • Software
    • Battery Technology
    • Controlled Environments
      • Cleanrooms
      • Graphene
      • Lasers
      • Regulations/Standards
      • Sensors
    • Imaging
    • Nanotechnology
    • Scientific Computing
      • Big Data
      • HPC/Supercomputing
      • Informatics
      • Security
    • Semiconductors
  • R&D Market Pulse
  • R&D 100
    • Call for Nominations: The 2025 R&D 100 Awards
    • R&D 100 Awards Event
    • R&D 100 Submissions
    • Winner Archive
    • Explore the 2024 R&D 100 award winners and finalists
  • Resources
    • Research Reports
    • Digital Issues
    • R&D Index
    • Subscribe
    • Video
    • Webinars
  • Global Funding Forecast
  • Top Labs
  • Advertise
  • SUBSCRIBE