New Affordable, Rapid Diagnostic Tool To Detect Brain Cancer: Study

A recent research published in Communications Biology has discovered an automated device capable of diagnosing glioblastoma, a fast-growing and incurable brain cancer, in less than an hour.

The core of the diagnostic tool is a biochip that utilises electrokinetic technology to identify biomarkers, specifically active Epidermal Growth Factor Receptors (EGFRs). These receptors are commonly overexpressed in cancers like glioblastoma and are present in extracellular vesicles.

Researchers faced two main challenges: developing a method to differentiate between active and inactive Epidermal Growth Factor Receptors and designing a diagnostic technology that could both detect and selectively identify active Epidermal Growth Factor Receptors on extracellular vesicles from blood samples.

To address these issues, they designed a biochip featuring a low-cost electrokinetic sensor roughly the size of a ballpoint pen’s ball. This sensor’s small size allows antibodies on it to form multiple attachments to individual extracellular vesicles, which greatly improves the diagnostic's sensitivity and selectivity.

Additionally, synthetic silica nanoparticles are used to “report” the presence of active Epidermal Growth Factor Receptors on the captured extracellular vesicles by carrying a high negative charge. When active Epidermal Growth Factor Receptors are present, a voltage shift occurs, signalling the detection of glioblastoma in the patient.

The device consists of three components: an automation interface, a portable prototype machine that dispenses materials for the test, and the biochip. Each test uses a new biochip, but both the automation interface and the prototype machine can be used multiple times.

Performing a test takes less than an hour and requires only 100 microliters of blood. The cost of materials for each biochip is under $2.

While the device was originally developed for glioblastoma, the researchers believe it can be adapted for detecting other types of biological nanoparticles. This suggests that the technology could potentially be used to identify various biomarkers for other diseases.

Reference: Maniya, N.H., Kumar, S., Franklin, J.L. et al. An anion exchange membrane sensor detects EGFR and its activity state in plasma CD63 extracellular vesicles from patients with glioblastoma. Commun Biol 7, 677 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-024-06385-1