Known as a Phenotype Analyzer Chip, the diagnostic device can detect minute biological particles in a patient’s bloodstream, providing clues as to how glioblastoma is responding to treatment. It works by testing small samples of blood and identifying messenger cells known as extracellular vesicles that originate from glioblastoma tumour tissue. Developed at the University of Queensland (UQ), the new technology is described in Science Advances.
“These particles cross the blood brain barrier laden with information on the disease, and with our hypersensitive device we can pick them up and interrogate them,” said Dr Zhen Zhang, a researcher at UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN).
“It’s a completely new and non-invasive way of getting information…