The revolutionary test employs
nanotechnology and is especially designed to detect type-1 diabetes
outside hospital settings. This little device is capable of
distinguishing between the two primary forms of diabetes mellitus.
While both are characterised by high blood-sugar levels, the
underlying causes and treatments are different for each. Type 1
diabetes is an autoimmune disease that is primarily caused by an
inappropriate immune system attack on healthy human tissue. Patients
suffering from type-1 diabetes stop making insulin because the
patient's antibodies start attacking the insulin-producing cells in
the pancreases. In type-2 diabetes, these auto antibodies are not
present.
There was a time when the prevalence of
type-1 diabetes was more dominant in children, whereas the type 2 was
prevalent in middle aged, overweight adults, but now this distinction
no longer exists. Nearly a quarter of newly diagnosed children today
suffer from type-2 diabetes and an increasing number of newly
diagnosed adults have type-1 diabetes.
To date, the type-determining test
available is quite expensive and can only be used in a sophisticated
healthcare setting. According to Brian Feldman, MD, PhD, assistant
professor of paediatric endocrinology and the Bechtel Endowed Faculty
Scholar in Pediatric Translational Medicine, the senior author of
this paper and the pediatric endocrinologist at Lucile Packard
Children's Hospital Stanford, "With the new test, not only do we
anticipate being able to diagnose diabetes more efficiently and more
broadly, we will also understand diabetes better - both the natural
history and how new therapies impact the body."
Early detection and diagnosis of
diabetes is essential in order to be able to treat the disease
efficiently. If patients are treated aggressively and effectively at
the early stage, there is a possibility that the autoimmune attack on
the pancreas can be stopped and the body's ability to make insulin
preserved. However, the tests that are currently available can only
be performed with a trained staff and are costly. They also take
several days to determine the form of diabetes. By using this new
microchip test, the result is available within minutes and at
approximately $20 per chip, which can be used for up to 15 tests, it
is inexpensive to use . Only a minimal amount of blood is required
and the test can be performed with blood from a finger prick.
The nanotech microchip uses a
fluorescence based method for detecting antibodies. Glass plates
form the base of each microchip and are coated with
nanoparticle-sized islands of bold. These intensify the florescent
signal and enable reliable antibody detection. The team at Stanford
University has filed a patent for the microchip and once it is
approved by the FDA, it is strongly believed that this little
invention will definitely fulfil the global need for a better
diabetes diagnostic device.
