Tag : MISIS

Moscow: A research team from HSE University, Skoltech, MPGU and MISIS has developed a nanophotonic-microfluidic sensor whose potential applications include detection, monitoring and assessment of treatment success. Today, the device can identify dissolved gases and liquids in low concentrations with high accuracy. The study appeared in Optics Letters. According to the World Health Organisation, in 2020 the global cancer burden was estimated at 19.3 million new cases and 10 million deaths. WHO experts believe that an estimated 30% of new cases could be prevented, and about the same proportion could be cured, with early detection. Today, a 'lab-on-a-chip' is a miniature sensor device capable of performing complex biochemical analysis which is considered one of the most promising approaches to early cancer detection. Russian researchers have developed a new hybrid nanophotonic-microfluidic sensor for highly sensitive analysis of liquids and gases at very low concentrations in solutions. Gregory Goltsman, HSE MIEM Professor, says, "Our study is an important step towards creating a compact lab-on-a-chip device capable of not only performing a whole set of blood tests but detecting cancer biomarkers at an early stage using a very small amount of the patient's blood. Ideally, we aim to create a small portable device that needs just a drop of blood. By pressing a button, the doctor would see the results, e.g., that the parameters are normal or that further tests are required." The current device consists of nanophotonic optical sensors on a chip in combination with microfluidic channels above the sensor surface. Fluids or gases pumped through the channels affect the propagation of optical radiation in the highly sensitive nanophotonic devi ...