by
Brendon Nafziger, DOTmed News Associate Editor | January 26, 2010
Already, there is also interest in using the sensor to diagnose breast cancer by running saliva over it. Because of the antibodies used, the technology is only around 50 to 70 percent sensitive for breast cancer, and inferior to mammograms. But frequent testing produces a general trend that may alert doctors to the possibility that a patient has developed cancer.
Ren suggests this technology could be especially helpful in countries in the Middle East where taboos prevent women from getting timely tests. (See DM11427.)
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"Over there, they do not have enough female doctors, so women seldom come out to do mammograms," he says. Because of the reluctance to get mammograms, 70 percent of women with breast cancer get diagnosed when the disease has spread to advanced stages with low five-year survival rates, according to Ren.
"With our technology, they can test this at home," he says. "Our sensor can be made for less than 20 cents. They can spit on it and throw it away."
MONITORING ASTHMA
The technology behind finding cancer could also catch respiratory diseases and monitor how successful therapies are in treating them. It would do this by measuring the pH of one's breath.
"Normally, it's 7 to 7.4, but when people have a serious asthma attack, the pH can drop to 5," Ren says. "If you can measure this, and you see the pH start to decrease to 6, [the patient] can take some medicine. If [the patient's] already sick and taking medicine, but they don't know whether it's working or not, the sensor can measure the pH variable."
TESTING THE WATERS
Direct medical testing is not the only way the device could protect people's health. It's also being used to keep track of contaminants in our waterways.
In last month's issue of Applied Physics Letters, researchers used Ren's device to investigate estrogen contamination in a Florida river where almost every fish became female. In the study, thanks to Ren's sensor, the scientists were able to detect large quantities of vitellogenin, a marker for estrogen exposure, in large mouth bass.
Next up, the researchers hope to see what the sex hormone pollution is doing to the region's manatee.
"This is a very powerful method," he says.
Currently, several companies are working with the University of Florida to license the technology for commercial use.
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