These researchers combined the smart phone technology with spectroscopy. Spectroscopy, especially mobile spectroscopy, has been used previously within the medical field for a diagnostic test/screening. However, the spectrophotometer is very bulky and the sample would have to be sent into a lab, which probably has backlog. This makes a waiting process brutal, especially when screening for something like cancer. Mobile spectroscopy has been previously developed, so it isn't a new or novel idea. However, these were very slow and could only screen one sample at a time. What makes this spectrophotometer different from the others is that it can analyze eight samples at once and allows for quick field testing.
It works by first subjecting the sample to a test called enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). ELISAs work by having a certain antibody for the protein of interested immobilized on a solid surface, usually a 96-well plate. The sample is then pipetted into these wells and incubated to allow for the antibody to bind to the target antigen. Once incubated, the plate is washed and a detection antibody is added to the wells. The excess detection antibody is removed horseradish peroxide (HRP) conjugate is added to the wells that binds to the detection antibody (this is another antibody that had the HRP bound to it). The plate is then incubated and then washed to remove this HRP conjugate then a substrate solution is added to the wells. This substrate reacts with the HRP conjugate to elicit a color change. This is then read by the spectrophotometer.
The smartphone spectrophotometer is programmed to pick up on interleukin-6, which is a biomarker for a slew of cancers. When tested out using laboratory-controlled samples, they achieved 99% accuracy. This technology will be great for work out in the field. Patients wouldn't have to wait as long for test results and many other unnecessary testing could be avoided if this technology is utilized out in the field. How do you feel about this technology? Could there be other potential uses for mobile spectrophotometers?
For further reading if you are interested: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0956566316308983
This is a pretty cool concept of how to detect cancers and for utilizing spectrophotometers. I wonder if any phone can be used for this or does a phone need to have certain requirements? I'm also curious as to how can a phone even be able to do this and do it accurately.
ReplyDeleteThis is really interesting because while smartphones now are capable of so much I would have never thought of a phone being a spectrophotometer too. And it's also rather ironic seeing as how there have been claims that cellphones can increase the chances of getting brain tumors, yet they can also be used to detect that of which it might cause! Either way, technology never ceases to amaze me!
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that should be mentioned is that, as described, the person preparing the ELISA would need training and access to reagents. I'm not surprised that the colorimetric data could be read easily by a phone camera, or that an app could apply a standard curve to estimate quantities of IL-6 (incidentally, the ELISA assay for IL-6 has been around for more than 20 years, as evidenced by this excellent paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9093211).
ReplyDeleteKari-
ReplyDeleteThis is really cool! I think this technology could be a great test for individuals that might have cancer. It is a fast, easy, and probably cheaper way to determine what could possibly be wrong with a person. On another note, I used ELISA when I interned at a toxicology lab one summer. However, they used ELISA for the detection of morphine in biological samples. I feel as if the mobile spectrophotometer could also be used for the presumptive detection of drugs.
Hey Kari,
ReplyDeleteThe use of mobile technology has been a boon for medical personnel, especially those that work as foreign aid workers. There is allot of money in finding ways to make medical testing mobile and cheap so it can be given to countries without the robust medical infrastructure found in the most developed nations. I know mobile ultrasounds and x-rays are also be worked on, with the goal being to bring these simple tests to a point where a doctor working in another country can easily use them to help patients even without the use of a supporting hospital or lab.
In forensics, ELISA is only a presumptive test mostly used to prioritize samples for downstream confirmation tests. Is this ELISA test used similarly? If I remember correctly, you usually have to include a control like a pregnancy test to make sure that the chemistries are working properly so that would bring it down to 7 samples but still. Also, what about false positives and false negatives? Another reason why confirmation tests are required. It would awful to tell someone that they don't have cancer when in fact it was a false negative based on these test results or vise versa.
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