"Lab on a chip" test for diabetes and cardiovascular disease

A Colorado State University chemistry professor has developed a way to rapidly test blood for signs of diabetes and cardiovascular disease - methods that could save patients and physicians significant time and money.

Using a combination of chemistry and engineering, Charles Henry and his team apply patterning techniques developed by the semiconductor industry to inexpensively fabricate diagnostic devices. The Henry group developed a simple means of detecting biomarkers within these devices through electrochemical detection.

With this advancement, small sample volumes could be analyzed cheaply, rapidly and with a high degree of sensitivity. Blood from a simple finger prick instead of a blood draw can be analyzed for markers of health conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Henry and his team have created a company called Advanced MicroLabs LLC to commercialize the invention, and Advanced MicroLabs has licensed the technology from Colorado State University Research Foundation. The company is focusing on the growing market called "lab on a chip" - a field that promises to perform complicated diagnostic analyses on a small format, rapidly and inexpensively. Analyses that once required large and expensive benchtop equipment can now be performed in a format that fits into one's hand.

"Strides have been made toward improving behavioral patterns that put people at risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, but there's still a need to develop methods to detect the onset of disease at the earliest possible stage," Henry said. "Advanced MicroLabs is developing technology for rapid detection of signs of diabetes and cardiovascular disease that will be inexpensive and require very small samples."

According to the American Diabetes Association, 20.8 million children and adults in the United States, or 7 percent of the population, have diabetes. According to the World Health Organization, the number of diabetics will double by 2025.

Two government agencies have already embraced the new technology by supporting preliminary research that aims to bring the patent-pending technology to the marketplace so patients may benefit. The National Science Foundation has provided $600,000 in funding through the Small Business Innovative Research grant program for diabetes-related work. The National Institutes of Health has provided an additional $100,000 grant for cardiovascular disease work. In both cases, the work is done in a collaborative effort between Advanced MicroLabs and Henry's laboratory at Colorado State University.

The company aims to develop the next generation of diabetic monitoring devices using its lab-on-a-chip technology. Using an integrated microchip, diabetics could someday obtain instant, historic information about glucose levels from the multiple daily measurements they already take as well as markers of long-term glucose regulation and well-known complications.