Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Prostate Cancer Results While You Wait

"a volunteer presents his fingertip for a quick finger stick. A phlebotomist wicks up the small drop of blood with a specially made square of plastic, then snaps the plastic into a credit-card sized microfluidics cartridge and feeds it into a special reader. Fifteen minutes later, the device spits out the volunteer's prostate specific antigen (PSA) level, a protein used to monitor the return of prostate cancer after treatment."

in reference to:

"A new microfluidics device gives results in 15 minutes."
- http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/24932/?nlid=2858 (view on Google Sidewiki)

2 comments:

  1. So does the volunteer need to put his fingertip anywhere before the test? We're not talking "dipstick" or anything, right? Just a blood test... phew!

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  2. LOL, thanks Jack, a startling image.

    ReplyDelete