Liquid sensor for easy detection of cancer developed

Kwon, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, is making a tiny sensor called acousticresonant sensor (ARS) that could examine body fluids for various diseases, including breast and prostate cancers.

Explaining the concept, Kwon stated, "Our ultimate goal is to produce a device that will simply and quickly diagnose multiple specific diseases, and eventually be used to create ‘point of care’ systems, which are services provided to patients at their bedsides.

The sensor has strong commercial potential to be manifested as simple home kits for easy, rapid and accurate diagnosis of various diseases, such as breast cancer and prostate cancer."

The working of the device
The ARS device works in liquid and can analyze the different properties in malignant and non-cancerous cells easily because they have different masses.

The ARS makes use of micro/nanoelectromechanical systems (M/NEMS) which are smaller than the diameter of the human hair, but have the potential of detecting a variety of ailments in bodily fluids with almost immediate results.

“In a liquid environment, most sensors experience a significant loss of signal quality, but by using highly sensitive, low-signal-loss acoustic resonant sensors in a liquid, these substances can be effectively and quickly detected — a brand-new concept that will result in a noninvasive approach for breast cancer detection,” said Jae Kwon.

Kwon further explained that it is actually a chemical test that can be performed before the cancer is large enough to be removed for a biopsy.

Additionally, the sensor could be used to identify single-cell cancers in blood during the course of the treatment until the cancer cells vanish completely.

Simple, quick and inexpensive procedure
As opposed to the currently used detecting methods like biopsies, which take weeks before outcomes are known, the sensor requires no analyzing equipment or complex data reading and generates easy, accurate and immediate results.

Since the technology holds promise of revealing the deadly virus at the very onset, the treatment process can begin at the earliest stages, increasing the odds of survival.

Last January, Kwon was awarded a $400,000, five-year National Science Foundation CAREER Award to carry on the work in this sensor research.

Kwon’s sensor research has been published in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Solid-state, Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems and the IEEE Conference on Sensors.