Researchers at the University of Calgary say a new way to do blood tests could save the health system thousands of dollars.
Dr. Karan Kaler, director of the Biosystems Research and Applications Group at the Schulich School of Engineering, said he and his team have developed a way to test fluids using a microchip.
Rather than gathering vials of blood and sending them to a lab, all that would be needed is a microscopic amount of blood — just one-trillionth of a litre.
The blood is placed on a microchip equipped with sensors that collect data and can send it wirelessly to a computer.
“You don’t have to extract a large volume of blood,” explained Kaler.
The scientists use a structure called a micro-emulsion, a droplet of fluid captured inside a layer of another substance, to hold the sample. The process eliminates many of the steps traditionally required to dispense, separate and transfer droplets.
“What we have here is a very controlled and more efficient method of creating structured particles,” said Kaler. “We can control the exact size and spacing of the droplets, while other techniques cannot achieve the same precision.”
The method could improve the efficiency, accuracy and speed of laboratory tests while also doing it cheaply.
“We’ve been working on it for the last five years,” said Kaler, who noted he hopes to one day see stores selling hand-held testing devices that use the technology. “We’re developing a portable platform that can be used for pathogens, food products and forensics without the requirement of qualified people to run the systems.”
Current testing uses robotic dispensers that cost around $10,000. Kaler said the microchips they use cost $25.
“You can imagine the present infrastructure is very costly,” said Kaler. “There is the manufacturing capability to allow to make these (new) devices at low costs and high volume.”
Tests that cost a lot of money and time can be done quickly and efficiently with the new process. Also, professionals aren’t needed to collect samples or run a battery of tests, cutting more health-care costs.
“You just need to prick your finger — diabetics do it on a routine basis. Sample collection now becomes trivial,” Kaler said.
He suggested the technology could be used in rural areas without clinic access for quicker answers.
Kaler explained with pre-screening chips people could take a blood sample in their own home, put it on a chip and send the information wirelessly to a doctor. The physician would know right away if the patient should head to a hospital or simply take an Aspirin.
The technology could go beyond Alberta and be used in Third World countries to diagnose malaria and other diseases where there aren’t hospitals and people can’t afford doctor visits.
“We’re still going to have health-care providers but scaled down,” said Kaler. “It gives them more time for the patients.”
The U of C research was published in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal Lab on a Chip and presented at the 2010 International Conference on Biomedical Electronics and Devices and the 13th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences.
“The next step will be working with provincial labs locally and health care providers and getting it into practice,” said Kaler. “It’s a saviour in reducing health-care budgets.”