<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:12pt">Here is why we need to be very careful about converting practical teaching polytechnics into theoretical content Universities<br><br><h1 id="ar_title">Tiny, personal blood testing laboratory gets under your skin</h1>
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<div>By <a href="http://www.gizmag.com/author/darren-quick/" rel="author">Darren Quick</a></div>
<div><em>March 19, 2013</em></div>
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<img src="http://images.gizmag.com/hero/blood-test-implant.jpg" title="This prototype implant can detect up to five proteins and organic acids at once (Photo: EP..." alt="This prototype implant can detect up to five proteins and organic acids at once (Photo: EP..." height="298" width="530"></a>
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<div>This prototype implant can detect up to five proteins and organic acids at once (Photo: EPFL)</div>
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<div>Blood tests usually involve drawing some blood out of the body. Now
scientists from the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
have developed an implant that allows blood to be analyzed from within
the body, with results then transmitted wirelessly to a computer. While
still at the experimental stage, the device could make it easier for
health care providers to monitor the chronically ill and provide more
personalized treatment to cancer patients.</div>
<ul id="gallery_images"><li><a href="http://www.gizmag.com/blood-test-implant-epfl/26729/pictures#1" class="image"><img src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/blood-test-implant-2.jpg" title="The prototype device is designed to be implanted under the skin and transmit blood test re..." alt="The prototype device is designed to be implanted under the skin and transmit blood test re..."></a></li><li><a href="http://www.gizmag.com/blood-test-implant-epfl/26729/pictures#2" class="image"><img src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/blood-test-implant-3.jpg" title="The implant is powered by and transmits data to a patch outside the body" alt="The implant is powered by and transmits data to a patch outside the body"></a></li><li><a href="http://www.gizmag.com/blood-test-implant-epfl/26729/pictures#3" class="image"><img src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/blood-test-implant-5.jpg" title="The implant relays results wirelessly to a patch that then relays
them via Bluetooth to a ..." alt="The implant relays results wirelessly to a patch that then relays them via Bluetooth to a ..."></a></li><li><a href="http://www.gizmag.com/blood-test-implant-epfl/26729/pictures#4" class="image"><img src="http://images.gizmag.com/gallery_tn/blood-test-implant-6.JPG" title="This prototype implant measures about 14 mm and comprises five sensors, a coil for wireles..." alt="This prototype implant measures about 14 mm and comprises five sensors, a coil for wireles..."></a></li><li id="view_all"><a href="http://www.gizmag.com/blood-test-implant-epfl/26729/pictures" class="blue">View all<br></a></li></ul>
<div>The tiny, portable blood-testing laboratory measures about 14 mm long
and is designed to be implanted just beneath the skin. The prototype
has five sensors that allow it to detect up to five proteins and organic
acids at once. The sensor surfaces are covered with an enzyme to
capture targeted substances in the body, such as lactate, glucose, or
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). However, the enzymes being tested in the
prototype are currently only good for about a month and a half.</div>
<div>"Potentially, we could detect just about anything," explains EPFL
scientist Giovanni de Micheli. "But the enzymes have a limited lifespan,
and we have to design them to last as long as possible." However, De
Micheli points out that, “it's very easy to remove and replace the
implant, since it's so small."</div>
<div>In addition to the sensors, the implant also packs a radio
transmitter and a power delivery system into its few cubic millimeter
volume. Instead of an inbuilt battery, the device has a tiny electrical
coil that receives power inductively from a patch located outside the
body that provides 1/10 watt of power through the patient’s skin.</div>
<div>The external patch also collects the data transmitted over a safe
frequency from the implant and relays it via Bluetooth to a mobile phone
or tablet, which then forwards the information to the doctor over the
mobile network.</div>
<div style="width: 529px; height: 181px; " class="article_img"><a href="http://www.gizmag.com/blood-test-implant-epfl/26729/pictures#4" target="_blank"><img src="http://images.gizmag.com/inline/blood-test-implant-5.jpg" alt="The implant relays results wirelessly to a patch that then relays them via Bluetooth to a ..." width="529"></a></div>
<div>The research team, which was led by De Micheli and Sandro Carrara,
believes the implant could be particularly useful to oncologists who use
occasional blood tests to evaluate cancer patients’ tolerance to
particular dosages of chemotherapy.</div>
<div>"It will allow direct and continuous monitoring based on a patient's
individual tolerance, and not on age and weight charts or weekly blood
tests,” De Michelli says.</div>
<div>In addition to potentially offering a more personalized form of
chemotherapy, the implant could also be used in patients with chronic
illness to identify a problem, such as an imminent heart attack or high
blood sugar levels, and send an alert even before symptoms emerge.</div>
<div>The prototype has already been tested in the laboratory and proved to
be as reliable as traditional analysis methods in detecting the five
different substances it targeted. The researchers hope the implant will
be commercially available within the next four years.</div>
<div>De Michelli and Carrera detail the implant and its potential uses in the following video.</div>
<div>Source: <a href="http://actu.epfl.ch/news/under-the-skin-a-tiny-laboratory/" target="_blank">EPFL</a></div><br><div><span><br></span></div><div> </div><div>Robert Yawe<br>KAY System Technologies Ltd<br>Phoenix House, 6th Floor<br>P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200<br>Kenya<br><br></div><div>Tel: +254722511225, +254202010696</div></div></body></html>