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18/11/2009
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Scientists at IBM claim to have developed an innovation that can test for diseases so quickly, that a small sample of a patient's blood could be tested immediately following a heart attack.
 According to IBM, the one step point of care diagnostic test is based on an innovative silicon chip that requires less sample volume, is significantly faster, portable, easy to use and can test for many diseases – including cardiovascular disease, one of the world's leading causes of death.
The diagnostic test uses capillary forces – the tendency of a liquid to rise in narrow tubes or to be drawn into small openings. Tiny samples of serum or blood are then analysed for the presence of disease markers. IBM scientists have encoded the forces of capillary forces in a microfluidic chip made of a silicon compound, which measures 1 x 5cm. The chip contains sets of micrometre wide channels where the test sample flows through in approximately 15 seconds – several times faster than traditional tests. The filling speed can be adjusted to several minutes when the chip requires additional time to read more complex disease markers.
Emmanuel Delamarche, scientist at IBM Research, Zurich, said: "This point of care test has achieved the trifecta for medical staff in that it is portable, fast and requires a very small volume of sample. We are giving back precious minutes to doctors so they can make informed and accurate decisions right at the time they need them most to save lives."
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Author
Chris Shaw
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