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Molecular Vision (MV) was founded to meet a clearly defined demand in the analytical sciences: the need for miniaturized chemical and biological detectors that could offer high vision sensitivity and functionality but at a low cost.

This off-shoot company of London's Imperial College develops affordable diagnostic devices for use in doctors' offices and in the home. Its proprietary devices combine microfluidic chips with organic semi-conductor light-sources and photodetectors to provide medical tests via a hand-held unit.

One example: a new lab-on-a-chip device which uses light-emitting polymers and photodetectors capable of carrying out lab-quality diagnostic tests in a disposable device no bigger than a woman's compact.

According to "The Engineer" magazine, Molecular Vision's patented chip incorporates up to 10 channels, allowing the level of multiple analytes to be measured simultaneously alongside internal controls and reference samples.

Ian Campbell, Molecular Vision's chief executive, explains further: "Essentially, we have an organic polymer that can be deposited on both the top and bottom sides of the microfluidics. The top polymer acts as a light-emitting diode, so when a current in the slide passes through the polymer, it lights up. The polymer at the bottom acts as a photon receiver and translates the signal from light to amps. The amount of signal it receives is proportional to the amount of active material in the sample, which then can be displayed on a readout."

Results appear within minutes and can be viewed on a LCD screen on the device or via a PDA, mobile phone or home computer. Each could also be used to power the device, which can also run on a small internal "button" battery, according to Engineer Magazine.

A sample body fluid will be mixed with regents through the microfluidic network. Pre-treatment, chemical reactions, analytical separations and detection of the sample are all carried out on a single chip. The system is also low risk as it uses established assay technology and regents.

Molecular Vision invented this novel method of optical detection based on recent advances in plastic electronics that is now fully compatible with chip technology.