Researchers have introduced a portable, sound-based diagnostic tool that can provide accurate results in just one hour using only a small finger-prick of blood.
When patients go to their doctors for blood testing, they’re often confronted with needles and syringes, along with lengthy waits—sometimes hours or even days—for lab results.
Scientists from the University of Colorado Boulder aim to change this scenario with their latest handheld diagnostic system that utilizes sound waves to yield precise results in just one hour from a tiny sample of blood.
The details of their findings were shared in a research paper published on October 16 in the journal “Science Advances.”
“We have created a user-friendly technology that can be utilized in various environments and provide important diagnostic information quickly,” stated senior author Wyatt Shields, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder.
This work comes at a time when scientists are striving to make diagnostic tests more accessible, especially for individuals in rural regions or low-income countries. Additionally, blood tests can be intimidating for those with a fear of needles.
Current rapid tests, like those for COVID-19 or pregnancy, can quickly confirm whether a specific biomarker is present but cannot quantify levels, nor can they reliably detect very low concentrations.
On the other hand, traditional clinical blood tests are highly sensitive, capable of identifying rare biomarkers. However, they demand expensive equipment, complicated procedures, and may take days before results are available to patients.
The researchers recognize that there is skepticism surrounding biosensing technology, especially following the downfall of Theranos Inc., which in 2015 claimed to identify hundreds of biomarkers from a single drop of blood. Their device operates differently, they clarify, introducing a design based on systematic experiments and rigorous, peer-reviewed studies.
“While their claims were unrealistic at the time, many researchers aspire to achieve something similar in the future,” noted lead author Cooper Thome, a PhD candidate in the department. “Our work may be a step toward that objective—grounded in science that is accessible to everyone.”
Sound diagnostics
Shields and Thome aimed to create a tool that is sensitive, portable, and user-friendly.
Their key innovation lies in tiny particles they refer to as “functional negative acoustic contrast” particles (fNACPs) and a specially designed handheld instrument dubbed an “acoustic pipette,” which transmits sound waves to blood samples.
Thome engineered the fNACPs (essentially miniature rubber spheres) to be customized with specific coatings that allow them to recognize and capture particular biomarkers, such as a virus or a protein. These particles respond distinctively to sound wave pressure compared to blood cells. The acoustic pipette exploits this unique behavior.
“We are essentially harnessing sound waves to quickly separate these particles from a very small volume of fluid,” said Thome. “It’s an innovative approach to measuring blood biomarkers.”
When a small blood sample is mixed with these custom particles and placed in the pipette, sound waves push the particles to one side of the chamber, trapping them as the rest of the blood is removed.
The biomarkers still attached to the particles are subsequently tagged with fluorescent markers and analyzed with lasers to quantify their concentration.
This entire process takes less than 70 minutes within a device that fits comfortably in the hand.
“In our study, we prove that this pipette and particle system can achieve the same level of sensitivity and specificity as conventional clinical tests, but with a significantly simplified workflow,” said Shields. “This technology has the potential to bring blood diagnostics directly to the patient’s bedside.”
This tool could be especially valuable for determining not only if a patient has an infectious disease but also assessing their viral load and growth rate. It may also be useful for measuring antibodies, identifying whether a booster shot is needed, testing for allergies, or detecting proteins linked to certain cancers.
The current study serves as a proof-of-concept, and further research is essential before the device can be brought to market. The authors have applied for patents and are looking into how to adapt the technology for simultaneous use on multiple patients or to test multiple biomarkers at once.
“We believe this technology holds significant promise in overcoming some of the persistent challenges associated with traditional blood sampling, transporting samples to a lab, and awaiting results,” concluded Shields.
