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29/05/2009
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Researchers at Ostendum, a spinoff company of the University of Twente in Netherlands, have developed a portable device that can detect whether or not a person is infected with a particular virus.
 This is now possible due to a new ultra-sensitive detector developed by Ostendum. The company has just completed the first prototype and expects to be able to put the first commercial version of the detector onto the market in late 2010. The device consists of two parts: a lab-on-a-chip-system and a portable detector. A lab-on-a-chip is a miniature laboratory the size of a chip. The chip contains tiny channels that are coated with receptors. The blood or saliva sample is transported to the channels with the help of a fluid system and substances from the saliva or blood can then bind with the receptors on the chip.
Then light from a laser is guided through the channels and if any of the substances binds with the receptors in any of the channels, this will alter the phase of the light. Such a change will manifest itself in the interference pattern and is a fingerprint of any viruses present. The method is highly sensitive and researchers claim it is possible to measure the binding of a single virus particle.
The system is able to detect not only viruses, but also specific bacteria, proteins and DNA molecules. An increased or reduced concentration of these microorganisms in a person's saliva may be an indication that they have one illness or another. Not only does the detector carry out measurements many times faster than standard techniques, it is also portable, so it can be used anywhere.
Ostendum's research & development director, Aurel Ymeti claims that if the right antibodies to the swine flu were at the company's disposal, it would be possible to highlight the presence of the virus within five minutes.
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Author
Tehreem Aidrus
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