Nanosensors test for cancer

Yale researchers have for the first time used nanosensors to measure two cancer biomarkers in whole blood, opening up the possibility of simpler testing for cancer and other diseases.

“Nanosensors have been around for the past decade, but they only worked in controlled laboratory settings,” said Mark A. Reed, Ph.D., the Harold Hodgkinson Professor of Engineering and Applied Science and Electrical Engineering. “This is the first time we’ve been able to use them with whole blood, which is a complicated solution containing proteins, ions, and other things that affect detection.”

Reed and Tarek Fahmy, Ph.D., associate professor of biomedical and chemical engineering, reported on December 13 in the advance online publication of Nature Nanotechnology that they had developed a device that can detect concentrations equivalent to a grain of salt in a swimming pool. The device can detect biomarker concentrations in minutes instead of days and could test for a wide range of biomarkers for disorders from ovarian cancer to cardiovascular disease.