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Indeed, Ho says, the device is 100 times more sensitive than the standard protein-detection technique, ELISA. A more extensive and invasive process, ELISA requires that the proteins be purified from the blood before testing.
"The confocal microscope is a sophisticated imaging system at the heart of the UCLA researchers' work and what ultimately led to the improvement in detection," says John McDevitt, a professor of chemistry at the University of Texas, who is also working in salivary diagnostics. The main challenge now facing the UCLA group is how to use this technique outside a laboratory setting, he says.
The UCLA researchers tested the optical protein sensor on 40 patients--20 healthy subjects and 20 individuals with oral cancer. The results proved 95 percent accurate, says Ho. The study was published online in the international journal Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
"The new sensor is a major step in salivary diagnostics, an area that is being looked at very carefully to see where it might be better to use saliva than blood," says Spencer Redding, chair of the department of dental diagnostic science at the University of Texas Health Science Center, in San Antonio, who is working with McDevitt. Other possible applications of such technology include detection of heart disease, infectious disease, and asthma, Redding says.
My dentist in California has already offered me an oral cancer screening test. They swish around a solution in the mouth and look at it under a special light (if I remember correctly.) It's surprising this article makes no mention of how this new test compares to the one already on the market.
The statement: 'Ho and his team found that focusing the laser light on a specific part of the sample resulted in a lower signal-to-noise ratio... '
Should read higher signal-to-noise.
Thank you for pointing out his mistake, it has been fixed in the article.
Manufacturing in the United States is in trouble. That's bad news not just for the country's economy but for the future of innovation.
scottymdphd
1 Comment
ELISA
elisa is not an invasive test- it is used for HIV saliva tests, drug urine screens, etc. These guys are just trying to hype up an expensive machine for everyone to buy. perhaps it is more sensitive, but there are alot of other ways the sensitivity of an elisa-based test could be ramped up without creating a $500K machine with lots of disposable expensive reagents. this is far from a breakthrough.
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