Scientists develop world’s first briefcase cancer detection lab

A briefcase lab to detect cancer at an early stage, especially in the developing countries has been developed by scientists. The world’s first portable lab can operate even at high temperatures, and can also boost early detection of cancer.

This first kit of its kind handy tool to be used for portable measurement of cancer biomarkers is the brainchild of Dr Nuno Reis, a lecturer at the Loughborough University in UK. Dr Nuno was motivated by a larger objective of providing a cancer detection system which uses state of the art technology. He is reported to have developed it keeping in mind the lack of adequate technology to support a full laboratory in developing countries, as confirmed by PTI.

The lab-in-a-briefcase comprises of four components; a manually driven multi-syringe device capable of performing up to 80 simultaneous tests from whole blood samples at any one time; microwell plates pre-loaded with assay reagents; a portable USB-powered film scanner to image the test strips; and a portable computer for real-time data analysis.

The system requires just one operator with minimal training to conduct the test within 15 minutes. One of the remarkable features of the product is that it uses whole blood without the need for any sample preparation -a previously challenging task outside a laboratory.