METHODOLOGY The Research and Education Newsletter of Houston Methodist
FALL 2013
Versatile chip tests for liver cancer and drugs
by David Bricker & Rebecca Hall, Ph.D.
Scientists from the Houston Methodist Research Institute will receive a total of $4.2 million from the National Institutes of Health to develop a small, low-cost device for rapid point-of-care blood tests. Two grants will fund applications for the technology in drug testing and liver cancer risk assessment. The V-Chip is composed of two thin, 3” x 2”
As the molecules mix, an enzymatic reaction
slides of glass. In between the slides are
creates oxygen gas that pushes the dye up
The V-chip applications are based on
separate wells for three things: hydrogen
columns on the slide. How far the dye travels
technology previously developed by
peroxide, as many as 50 different antibodies,
is roughly proportional to the amount of
Houston Methodist nanomedicine faculty
and a dye. After adding the patient’s sample
biomarker present in the patient sample- in
member Lidong Qin, Ph.D. His “V-Chip,”
of blood, serum, or urine, a shift in the glass
this case, drugs or liver cancer risk biomarkers.
or volumetric bar-chart chip, can detect
plates initiates the test by bringing the wells
The end result is a visual bar chart that Qin
biomarkers in a single drop of blood.
into contact and mixing the four ingredients.
says is accurate and easy to read. >> CONT. PAGE THREE
or volumetric bar-chart chip, will be “ V-Chip” used to detect biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common cause of liver cancer. The device only requires a drop of blood from a finger prick.
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