Researchers developing diagnostic 'lab on a chip'
If you have ever marveled over the orderly process by which cars, buses and other modes of transportation are directed toward their destinations in a big city, you鈥檒l really appreciate the work of one Florida State University chemist.
Thomas Fischer, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at FSU, is designing a 鈥渟mart鈥� traffic system similar to those in major metropolises. A major difference, though, is its size: Fischer鈥檚 traffic grid is small enough to fit on a tiny microchip.
Working with an FSU postdoctoral associate, Pietro Tierno, and another colleague, Professor Tom H. Johansen of the University of Oslo in Norway, Fischer has designed a 鈥渓ab on a chip鈥� -- a small device that, when exposed to very low magnetic fields, might one day be used as a portable tool for quickly diagnosing a variety of human illnesses.
鈥淐urrently, a doctor seeking to help a sick patient may take a blood sample and send it out to a laboratory,鈥� Fischer said. 鈥淚n three or four days, the lab results will come back and the doctor will have a better idea of what ails the patient.
鈥淲ith the 鈥榣ab on a chip,鈥� however, it might be possible to take a single drop of the patient鈥檚 blood, place it on a small chip, and then be able to provide a very quick, inexpensive and -- most important -- accurate diagnosis.鈥�
Fischer explained that the device would work by exposing the blood sample to very low magnetic field oscillations. In so doing, certain microscopic particles within the sample would be manipulated into 鈥渃ommuting鈥� through an array of magnetic bubbles on the surface of the chip. Observing where various particles align themselves then would enable medical professionals to determine the nature of the patient鈥檚 illness.
鈥淪ingle molecules marking the presence or absence of a disease will be attached to magnetic particles a billion times smaller than a marble,鈥� Fischer said. 鈥淭he magnetic traffic system then will guide these particles to different positions on the chip depending on their molecular marking.鈥�
A paper describing the research of Fischer, Tierno and Johansen was recently published in the prestigious scientific journal 麻豆淫院ical Review Letters. That paper, titled 鈥淟ocalized and Delocalized Motion of Colloidal Particles on a Magnetic Bubble Lattice,鈥� can be accessed at .
In addition, Fischer, Tierno and another colleague, Lars Helseth, an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, have submitted a patent application related to their 鈥榣ab on a chip.鈥� The application, titled 鈥淒igital Transport of Paramagnetic Beads on Magnetic Garnet Films,鈥� states that their goal is to 鈥渃ontrol the location and movement of molecular objects on a microchip by modulating magnetic domains on the surface of the microchip.鈥�
A company, Siemens Medical Solutions, also has expressed interest in Fischer鈥檚 technique. Plans to develop the magnetic chip further in a joint effort are under way.
Much more basic research must be done before such a diagnostic tool is ready for the marketplace. Fischer stressed that science 鈥渙ften is a long, laborious process that can take years to generate results. However, this sort of research is essential if breakthroughs in medicine and the sciences are to occur.鈥�
Source: Florida State University
