A SMART PHONE-SIZED DEVICE CAN DIAGNOSE CANCER IN 20 MINUTES.

Advances in disease diagnostics now offer clinicians a staggering degree of accuracy. But access to results generally requires a well-equipped lab and a few weeks’ waiting time. This could soon change thanks to a new, low-cost diagnostic DNA analyzer the size of a smartphone. Q-Poc, billed as a “handheld lab”, is the idea of British-based tech firm QuantuMDx, which says the analyzer can accurately diagnose everything from cancers to infectious diseases in a matter of minutes. Currently in the alpha testing stage, the company hopes to get the product in the hands of doctors by early 2018. “We’re now at the point that we have a working prototype that can perform a highly sensitive tuberculosis test from a sample through to results in 15-20 minutes,” says Jonathan O’Halloran, the company’s co-founder. “The technology is now being ramped up to beta stage and we hope to start manufacturing towards the end of this year.” The handheld apparatus, which runs on a solar-powered battery or wind-up device, is designed to read biological samples submitted via a credit card-size cartridge (think of it as a sophisticated Game Boy). It can work with a range of sample types. Swabs can be used to detect sexually-transmitted infections, while sputum is used to detect tuberculosis. Q-Poc differs from most conventional point-of-care diagnostic tools in that it analyses the DNA of pathogens rather than the proteins within the sample. The device depends on microfluidic technology , which essentially allows fluids to pass through different microscopic channels of different diameters. A chemical process then breaks down the sample into a molecular soup , which is then forced through a nanoscale-based filter system. The filter is coated with a negatively charged polymer, which repels the DNA as other molecules are held back, thereby isolating the DNA for analysis. “It sounds simple, but it is absolutely groundbreaking,” says the 40-year-old O’Halloran, who has a background in molecular genetics. “Nothing out there on the market can come close to its speed and proficiency.” The potential of O’Halloran’s invention to “change the face of healthcare globally” saw him named 2015 European Chief Technology Officer of the Year (small business category) by Eirma, an industrial research association. The award’s judges gave particular praise to the technology’s developing world focus, especially at a time when the threat of drug resistant superbugs are on the rise. read more;http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2016/apr/21/quantumdx-cancer-diagnostics-medicine-africa-tuberculosis