The product can locate cancer-associated proteins in a blood serum sample in less than an hour, and with much greater sensitivity than existing commercial devices. It detects multiple proteins at one time too, and by detecting multiple biomarkers simultaneously doctors may be able to be specific on the type of cancer the patient has.
The silicon chip that runs the device has 64 embedded sensors. The "capture antibodies" attached to the sensors grab the proteins and 
put them on hold, while a second batch of antibodies is added to the mix. They latch onto magnetic nanoparticles as well as the cancer biomarkers that are being held captive by the sensors. Pretty intense process overall.
To see the detector through those steps, Wang has co-founded a startup company, MagArray Inc., in the Panorama Institute for Molecular Medicine, a not-for-profit incubator in Sunnyvale, Calif. BD
A team led by Stanford researchers has developed a prototype blood scanner that can find cancer markers in the bloodstream in early stages of the disease, potentially allowing for earlier treatment and dramatically improved chances of survival. The system based on MagArray biodetection chips can find cancer-associated proteins in a blood serum sample in less than an hour, and with much greater sensitivity than existing commercial devices. In fact, the device, which uses magnetic nanotechnology to spot the cancer proteins, is tens to hundreds of times more sensitive, meaning the proteins can be found while there are relatively few of them in the bloodstream. The researchers reported their results in the Dec. 1 online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Additional Information:
- Center for Magnetic Nanotechnology http://www.stanford.edu/group/nanomag_center/
- Shan Wang http://soe.stanford.edu/research/layout.php?sunetid=sxwang
New blood scanner detects even faint indicators of cancer
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