Stroke diagnosis with lab-on-a-chip: a magnetic-based sensing platform with increased sensitivity has been developed for integration into lab-on-a-chip systems. The methodology consists of moving the magnetic particles to the most sensitive spot of the sensor. To demonstrate its effectiveness, the protein S100[beta][beta], a diagnostic marker for stroke, was used as target protein.(design)

Medical Device Technology, September, 2009 by Parton, Els

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Lab-on-a-chip systems

Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) refers to a chip that performs different laboratory functions on microscale. These can include:

* injecting a sample such as blood into a microreservoir

* adding labels that bind specifically to the target molecules, for example, cancer cells, disease-indicating proteins and virus molecules

* guiding the fluid through micro-channels along a predefined route

* quantifying the labelled target molecules using specific sensors in the detection region