Convergence of nanotechnology, microtechnology, microfluidics, photonics, signal processing, and proteomics to build a medical device that could lead to the development of fast, portable point-of-care diagnostics for infectious disease such as HIV or SARS

You might have seen us use the  acronym NBIC, which stands for Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information technology and  technologies based on Cognitive science. Initially introduced in the U.S. National Science Foundation's 'Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance' report this acronym is often used to describe the basic idea that scientific and technological innovation can be stimulated through the convergence of two, three, or all four fields.

The most radical (and most controversial), proponents of convergence suggest that nanotechnologies will promote the unification of most branches of science and technology, based on the unity of nature at the nanoscale, including cognitive sciences. A first step toward this  was announced this summer by scientists at the

University

of

Toronto.

They have demonstrated, for what appears to be the first time, the convergence of nanotechnology, microtechnology, microfluidics, photonics, signal processing, and proteomics to build a medical device that could lead to the development of fast, portable point-of-care diagnostics for infectious disease (IDs) such as HIV, SARS and many others.

See article in Nano Letters:

http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/abstract.cgi/nalefd/asap/abs/nl071415m.html

Nano Lett., ASAP Article 10.1021/nl071415m S1530-6984(07)01415-4
Web Release Date: August 18, 2007

Copyright © 2007 American Chemical Society

Convergence of Quantum Dot Barcodes with Microfluidics and Signal Processing for Multiplexed High-Throughput Infectious Disease Diagnostics

Jesse M. Klostranec, Qing Xiang, Gabriella A. Farcas, Jeongjin A. Lee, Alex Rhee, Erin I. Lafferty, Steven D. Perrault, Kevin C. Kain, and Warren C. W. Chan*

Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering and The Terrence Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Molecular Research, Institute of Medical Sciences and the McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine, Department of Materials Science, University of Toronto, 160 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E1, Canada, and McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health, Tropical Disease Unit, UHN-Toronto General Hospital, 190 Elizabeth Street, Toronto, Ontario M5M 1M1, Canada

Received June 13, 2007

Revised July 31, 2007

Abstract:

Through the convergence of nano- and microtechnologies (quantum dots and microfluidics), we have created a diagnostic system capable of multiplexed, high-throughput analysis of infectious agents in human serum samples. We demonstrate, as a proof-of-concept, the ability to detect serum biomarkers of the most globally prevalent blood-borne infectious diseases (i.e., hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV) with low sample volume (<100 L), rapidity (<1 h), and 50 times greater sensitivity than that of currently available FDA-approved methods. We further show precision for detecting multiple biomarkers simultaneously in serum with minimal cross-reactivity. This device could be further developed into a portable handheld point-of-care diagnostic system, which would represent a major advance in detecting, monitoring, treating, and preventing infectious disease spread in the developed and developing worlds.