Toronto U Researchers Develop Device Capable of Accurate Prostate Cancer Diagnosis in 30 Minutes

Toronto, Ontario (AHN) – Toronto University researchers have come up with a device that has the capability to accurately diagnose prostate cancer in 30 minutes. With the use of microchip technology, Toronto University engineering professor Ted Sargent said the severity of tumors could be determined using only a urine sample, doing away with the need for a biopsy.

The device is the size of a Blackberry. Sargent said their aim it to have the device ready for use in hospitals in the new two to three years to detect other forms of cancer and infectious diseases.

The nanometer-sized meshing on the microchip is programmed to detect DNA sequences and proteins produced only by specific cancers or pathogens. The urine sample is placed on the chip and a chip reader analyzes the markers it finds in the sample, study co-author Shana Kelley said.

Aside from the kind of cancer, the chip also provides information on the stage and severity of the tumor.

Sargent and Kelley’s study came out Sunday in the Nature Nanotechnology journal.

The publication of the study came a day after the university got a $5 million grant over five years from the federal government which would created nine new networks as part of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council’s Strategic Network Grants program.

The Network for Bioplasmonic Systems will accelerate cancer diagnosis by tapping plasmonics into current procedures which uses cancer markers on cell surfaces.

Gilbert Walker of the University’s Department of Chemistry said in a statement, “Our first goal is to determine the presence of lung cancer at an earlier stage than is currently possible, which will permit faster screening. Our second goal is to develop similar devices for detecting leukemia that will greatly decrease the time needed for diagnosis.”

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