Blood Test Results In Minutes – But Could Take 5 – 10 Years For The Tech To Be Universally Available

Microfluidics: The laboratory in the palm of your hand from Humans Invent on Vimeo.

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An innovative device has been created to not only improve, but speed up the analysis of human blood, with doctors able to receive results of blood tests within minutes using a mini laboratory that fits in the palm of the hand. The technology could also be used for other liquids, such as urine. … Sharp brings the ability to mass produce this technology in very high volumes – using existing facilities. ... Hadwen explains, “It’s about being able to work with tiny micro-litre volumes of fluid, so a test can be done very quickly and very efficiently using a very small amount of precious substances – like your own blood. … “How it works is we place a droplet of blood onto the substrate and electronics underneath are splitting it up into smaller sub-droplets, performing a series of chemical reactions on the blood. With simple Microfluidic chips we can input fluid via pods and then using complicated electronics and fluidics can create controlled chemical reactions to do difficult bio-chemical diagnostic tests, all on this little chip in a matter of minutes to give a result to a trained health professional such as a doctor or a nurse.” … As Hadwen believes, “We think in the future it could transform and revolutionise healthcare. Maybe in 5-10 years you will see this technology at the doctors. Our hope is, that one day, this technology will help to save lives.”

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