A new portable device may help detect cancer quickly and effectively

The device can accurately determine a patient’s level of health and monitors cancer quickly, cheaply, effectively and non-invasively

Scientists at the University in Tarragona (URV) in Spain have developed a low-cost portable device that may help in the early diagnosis of cancer by detecting tumour cells in blood.

The device can assist in the early diagnosis of the disease in a manner that has a less negative effect on patients’ bodies(Shutterstock)

The device counts the number of tumour cells in a blood sample in real time and is thus a highly effective tool for improving the monitoring, treatment and diagnosis of cancer. The device can accurately determine a patient’s level of health and monitors cancer quickly, cheaply, effectively and non-invasively, researchers said.

Furthermore, it can assist in the early diagnosis of the disease and monitor tumours more effectively and in a manner that has a less negative effect on patients’ bodies. The portable device uses two systems in miniature: a flow system and an optical system. The first causes the blood cells to flow in alignment, while the second uses two optic fibres (a laser diode and a photodetector) to analyse and count cancerous and non-cancerous cells, researchers said.

The ratio between the two reveals how the cancer is progressing. The finding were published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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