<p> Scientists have developed low cost paper strips that may make detecting diseases such as cancer and malaria as easy as testing blood sugar or taking a home pregnancy test.<br /><br /></p>.<p>According to Abraham Badu-Tawiah from The Ohio State University in the US, people could apply a drop of blood to the paper at home and mail it to a laboratory on a regular basis - and see a doctor only if the test comes out positive.<br /><br />The researchers found that the tests were accurate even a month after the blood sample was taken, proving they could work for people living in remote areas.<br /><br />They said that the test can be tailored to detect any disease for which the human body produces antibodies, including ovarian cancer and cancer of the large intestine.<br /><br />The technology could bring disease diagnosis to people who do not have regular access to a doctor or can not afford regular in-person visits, Badu-Tawiah said.<br /><br />The technology resembles "lab on a chip" diagnostics, but instead of plastic, the "chip" is made from sheets of plain white paper stuck together with two-sided adhesive tape and run through a typical ink jet printer.<br /><br />Instead of regular ink, researchers use wax ink to trace the outline of channels and reservoirs on the paper.<br /><br />The wax penetrates the paper and forms a waterproof barrier to capture the blood sample.<br /><br />"To get tested, all a person would have to do is put a drop of blood on the paper strip, fold it in half, put it in an envelope and mail it," Badu-Tawiah said.<br /><br />The technology works differently than other paper-based medical diagnostics like home pregnancy tests, which are coated with enzymes or gold nanoparticles to make the paper change colour.<br /><br />Instead, the paper contains small synthetic chemical probes that carry a positive charge. It is these "ionic" probes that allow ultra-sensitive detection by a handheld mass spectrometer.<br /><br />The researchers successfully demonstrated that they could detect protein biomarkers from the most common malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, which is most prevalent in Africa.<br /><br />They also successfully detected the protein biomarker for ovarian cancer, known as cancer antigen 125, and the carcinoembryonic antigen, which is a marker for cancer of the large intestine, among other cancers.<br /><br />After confirming that their tests worked, Badu-Tawiah and his team stored the strips away and re-tested them every few days to see if the signal detected by the mass spectrometer would fade over time.<br /><br />They found that the signal was just as strong after 30 days as on day one, meaning that the disease proteins were stable and detectable even after a month.<br />The study was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.</p>
<p> Scientists have developed low cost paper strips that may make detecting diseases such as cancer and malaria as easy as testing blood sugar or taking a home pregnancy test.<br /><br /></p>.<p>According to Abraham Badu-Tawiah from The Ohio State University in the US, people could apply a drop of blood to the paper at home and mail it to a laboratory on a regular basis - and see a doctor only if the test comes out positive.<br /><br />The researchers found that the tests were accurate even a month after the blood sample was taken, proving they could work for people living in remote areas.<br /><br />They said that the test can be tailored to detect any disease for which the human body produces antibodies, including ovarian cancer and cancer of the large intestine.<br /><br />The technology could bring disease diagnosis to people who do not have regular access to a doctor or can not afford regular in-person visits, Badu-Tawiah said.<br /><br />The technology resembles "lab on a chip" diagnostics, but instead of plastic, the "chip" is made from sheets of plain white paper stuck together with two-sided adhesive tape and run through a typical ink jet printer.<br /><br />Instead of regular ink, researchers use wax ink to trace the outline of channels and reservoirs on the paper.<br /><br />The wax penetrates the paper and forms a waterproof barrier to capture the blood sample.<br /><br />"To get tested, all a person would have to do is put a drop of blood on the paper strip, fold it in half, put it in an envelope and mail it," Badu-Tawiah said.<br /><br />The technology works differently than other paper-based medical diagnostics like home pregnancy tests, which are coated with enzymes or gold nanoparticles to make the paper change colour.<br /><br />Instead, the paper contains small synthetic chemical probes that carry a positive charge. It is these "ionic" probes that allow ultra-sensitive detection by a handheld mass spectrometer.<br /><br />The researchers successfully demonstrated that they could detect protein biomarkers from the most common malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, which is most prevalent in Africa.<br /><br />They also successfully detected the protein biomarker for ovarian cancer, known as cancer antigen 125, and the carcinoembryonic antigen, which is a marker for cancer of the large intestine, among other cancers.<br /><br />After confirming that their tests worked, Badu-Tawiah and his team stored the strips away and re-tested them every few days to see if the signal detected by the mass spectrometer would fade over time.<br /><br />They found that the signal was just as strong after 30 days as on day one, meaning that the disease proteins were stable and detectable even after a month.<br />The study was published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.</p>