A new device about the size of a business card could allow
health care providers to test for insulin and other blood proteins, cholesterol,
and even signs of viral or bacterial infection all at the same time—with one
drop of blood. Preliminary tests of the V-chip, created by scientists at The
Methodist Hospital Research Institute and MD Anderson Cancer Center, were
published last night by Nature Communications.
"The V-Chip could make it possible to bring tests to
the bedside, remote areas, and other types of point-of-care needs," said
Nanomedicine faculty member Lidong Qin, Ph.D., the project's principal
investigator. "V-Chip is accurate, cheap, and portable. It requires only a
drop of a sample, not a vial of blood, and can do 50 different tests in one
go."