Lab on a Chip Blog

Simple microfluidic method helps detect life-threatening condition earlier

A new method for monitoring the onset of sepsistouted by US researchers may assist clinicians in helping more of their patients survive this potentially fatal condition.

Sepsis,通常被称为血液中毒，can be the result of an innocuous infection or injury.Without treatment,免疫系统变得不知所措,leading to organ shutdown.In the UK alone,30,000 people die as a direct result of the condition.脓毒症需要及早发现，以最大化完全康复的机会。However,existing diagnostics rely on antibody labelling,which requires samples to be prepared and tested by specialist laboratory staff.This requires time that a patient might not be able to spare.‘Existing methods are too cumbersome,' explainsJoel Voldman,领导麻省理工学院的新研究。

The tiny device can process large amounts of blood and detect activated white blood cells that are an indicator for sepsis.Source: © Royal Society of 新利手机客户端Chemistry

Voldman's group devised a microfluidic method that takes advantage of the white blood cells' electrical properties,which makes it possible to detect sepsis quickly in its earliest stages.Sepsis triggers white blood cells to become activated and circulate in the blood.The number of these activated cells indicates the disease's progression.Applying an electric field then separates activated and non-activated cells based on subtle differences in their electrical properties.

阅读full articlein新利手机客户端Chemistry World.