A tiny wire with a memory to diagnose cancer

EPFL researchers have used a nanowire to detect prostate cancer with greater accuracy than ever before. Their device is ten times more sensitive than any other biosensor available. Researchers at EPFL's Integrated Systems Laboratory (LSI/STI) have developed a new type of sensor that can detect tiny quantities of these markers and thus improve diagnostic accuracy. The sensor comes in the form of a tiny wire and is ten times more sensitive than any other biosensor ever realized. It is therefore capable of detecting cancer at a very early stage so that patients can receive better treatment. The researchers' work has been published in Nano Letters . An electrical component with a memory When doctors suspect that a patient has cancer, they look for biomarkers in their body. But it's not easy to detect these molecules in very small quantities - blood is a very dense fluid, full of molecules and cells that get in the way. EPFL researchers have managed to get around this obstacle by inventing a new detection technique. The trick is to trap the molecules of interest by the blood sample and then detect them in a dry environment, where measurements won't be disturbed by all the molecules. To do this, the researchers used a Memristor - a new electrical component that can 'remember' all the electrical currents that pass through it. The device has been successfully tested on the biomarker for prostate cancer, known as the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA). A nanowire, DNA fragments and an electric current