IBM Research, designed a kind of single chip micro fluid laboratory, even before a malignant tumor begins to grow detect cancer symptom.

IBM's IBM Research, designed a kind of single chip micro fluid laboratory (microfluidic lab - on - a - chip), can separate the tiny size only 20 nanometers (nm) matter particles; If successfully developed, the chip can even before a malignant tumor begins to grow detect cancer symptom. IBM is from Mount Sinai with The United States, icahn, The Mount Sinai Ichan School of Medicine) School of Medicine conducted The study.

IBM nano biotechnology (Nanobiotechnology) laboratory scientists and IBM's Thomas j. Watson research center of the wafer manufacturing expert Josh Smith (video below) said: "this concept is the use of fluid sample ─ ─ such as blood or urine ─ ─ diagnosis, with very high precision in the material composition of the sample was isolated; the separation degree is of a lot of research at the cellular level, but we're more separation precision of two to three levels (100 ~ 1000 times), break through the limit to achieve real nano level, can be separated such as extracellular (exosome), DNA, protein (protein) interesting material, and so on."

Those cells (sub - cellular) levels of ultra-small ingredients is formed before the cancer cells, therefore has the potential to make medical staff in malignant tumor was diagnosed with cancer symptom; Now IBM can isolate tiny to 20 nanometers, and the size of the average human cells is 10 microns (micron), thus can advance warning of cancer. In the past, medical researchers have to wait for cancer cells begin to mutate into tumor, can through the current laboratory equipment to detect.

IBM's lab, single chip not only support the cancer early detection according to the cooperation study at mount sinai hospital medical experts said, the single chip is better than the current medical inspection method is rapid, can let the fixed-point medical care (point - of - care) testing equipment become portable, easier to use, and need less fluid sample size, do not need to smoke a pipe, only need a few drops of blood. IBM's goal is to present fluid separator to add all the necessary electronic components, so that the medical device can perform complete laboratory level analysis, and the precision can achieve nanometer level.

IBM said, the high precision of lateral displacement of the analytical results from the innovation of certainty (deterministic lateral below, DLD clutches) method, is not forced material by different size of mesh (sieve) ─ ─ because this stop-and-go process slow the flow of material ─ ─ but a with different spacing pillars of area (similar to a pinball game), through fluid speed not slow.

Smaller substances through the pillars array will be directly affected by gravity, and the size is bigger and bigger materials will naturally flow to the sides, until they are consistent with asymmetric arrangement, gap size larger pillars (below the video). Currently the DLD clutches of nanometer grade array size is 2 centimeters (cm) square, from individual molecules across the cell can capture different size material.

IBM's future goal is diversified separable type of material particles, improve its accuracy will import in the real world and start the application; And mount sinai school of medicine will open first screening test for prostate cancer. Like a size of about 20 to 140 nanometers extracellular body ─ ─ pass outer lipid vacuoles (vesicles) ─ ─ and RNA cargo between proteins, cells from the blood, saliva, or urine extracted substances, can be used as biomarkers of cancer diagnosis, prediction, Through the test of its size, surface protein and nucleic acid vehicle (nucleic acid cargo), can judge the health degree of the cell.