Miniaturized detection technologies

Miniaturized detection technologies

Successfully analyzing scant cell samples requires exquisitely sensitive detection techniques. At some point however, cell concentration will reach a lower limit. That is unless the the size of the detector itself is also decreased in kind. We have employed a sophisticated miniaturized detection device that operates on the principle of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), much like MRI. This miniaturized NMR (µNMR) has similar detection sensitivity as MRI but can be achieved in a compact device that fits in the palm of your hand and requires only 1 µl of sample. We employed the µNMR to quantitatively profile human tumor FNA specimens for protein biomarkers that were labeled with magnetic nanoparticle probes. In a pilot study consisting of 50 patients with suspected intra-abdominal tumors, we identified a four-protein malignancy signature that was significantly more accurate than histopathological analysis.