瑞典研制出通过电话传输诊断结果的检测芯片

一种一次性微小液体芯片能够在活动实验室中使用，分析血液标本并通过移动电话将结果传输给医生。

这种芯片能够检测特异性生物指标的质量，例如血液中的C反应蛋白（CRP）或者肌钙蛋白I。一种微型泵，基于石蜡膨胀，由移动电话电池供电，推动样本通过通道、滤膜以及芯片的反应槽。一架相机然后读出芯片释放的光信号作为检测结果。这个过程是基于化学发光法，相同的化学反应使的火萤发光。在几分钟之后，这些结果就可以通过移动电话或者网络传输给医生。这种微型实验室唯一所需要添加的设备是配备数码相机的移动电话。

这种移动实验室是由Uppsala大学、Malardalens大学学院、和Uppsala大学医院的研究人员开发成功的。他们力图进一步提高芯片的功能，从而允许在几个平行血液分析仪中进行。

Uppsala Bio-X (www.uppsalabio.com)公司项目经理Jonas Astrom说：“最终定型的芯片对所有已经生产出抗体的生物学指标都有效。”这项交叉学科的研究项目是根据Uppsala大学和瑞典农业科技大学建立的划时代的科学技术而建立的。

Sending Diagnostic Results by Phone
 
A disposable microfluidic chip can serve as a kind of portable laboratory, analyzing blood samples and sending them via a mobile phone to a doctor.

The chip measures quantities of specific biomarkers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) or troponin I in a blood sample. A micro pump, based on paraffin expansion and powered by the mobile phone battery, pushes the sample through channels, filters, and the reaction chamber on the chip. A camera then reads the test results as light signals off the chip. This process is based on bioluminescence, the same chemical reaction that makes fireflies glow. After only a few minutes, the results can be sent to a doctor over a mobile phone network or the Internet. The only additional equipment the micro laboratory needs is a mobile phone with a digital camera.

This portable lab was developed by researchers from Uppsala University, Malardalens University College, and the University Hospital in Uppsala (Sweden). They aim to enhance the chip’s functionalities even further in order to allow the conduction of several parallel blood analyses.

“The finalized chip has the potential to respond to any biomarker for which there is an existing antibody,” noted Jonas Astrom, project manager for Uppsala Bio-X (www.uppsalabio.com), a cross-disciplinary research program based on cutting-edge science founded by Uppsala University and the Swedish University of Agricultural Science.