American researchers have unveiled a promising experimental device, making it possible not only to monitor fluctuations in glucose and insulin in real time, but also the levels of any protein, antibody or hormone circulating in the blood.
A real miniature laboratory
Continuous monitoring of changes in the blood of patients would certainly be a major breakthrough for physicians, and a team of bioengineers from Stanford allowed us to get closer to this reality. Featured in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, the newly developed device is able to detect in real time changes in the blood levels of any molecule or protein that a doctor should be monitoring.
« Blood tests are very useful, but they do not tell you in real time about the increase or decrease in insulin or glucose levels in a patient. “, Explain Tom Soh, co-author. « It is essential to be able to know their variations. »
One of the most common technologies used to detect specific molecules in a blood sample is the enzyme immunoassay, or ELISA, which can detect almost any type of antibody, hormone, or protein. Baptized ” Real-time ELISA » (RT-ELISA) according to the researchers, the new device constitutes an impressive evolution of the process and resembles a real laboratory on a chip.
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