Spotting Minute Amounts of Disease in the Bloodstream

The difficulty in spotting minute amounts of disease circulating in the bloodstream has proven a stumbling block in the detection and treatment of cancers that advance stealthily with few symptoms. With a novel electrochemical biosensing device that identifies the tiniest signals these biomarkers emit, a pair of NJIT inventors are hoping to bridge this gap. There could therefore be a simple, inexpensive test performed at a regular patient visit in the absence of specific symptoms to screen for some of the more silent, deadly cancers — to have a nanotechnology-enhanced biochip to detect cancers, malaria, and viral diseases such as pneumonia early in their progression, with a pin prick blood test.