Article published today in Health Day News (HERE) describes how an experimental microchip hooked up to a smart phone was faster and more accurate than standard pathology tests for confirming that a suspicious tumor was cancerous.
The new microchip correctly diagnoses 96 percent of cases in 60 minutes with 100 percent accuracy, compared to standard pathology methods typically requiring three or more days to produce a diagnosis only 84 percent accurate. This chip worked on people who already had a suspicious tumor and the results were later validated by biopsy. Of course, the biopsy turned out to be less reliable than the microchip, so one wonders of biopsies will soon be obsolete?
I don't know how well it would work for asymptomatic people, or for people whose cancer is not currently metastasized. Even with these uncertainties, I find this an exciting development. I imagine future checkups for current cancer patients being much simpler, faster, and more accurate than the current blood draw and 2 week wait. I also look forward to spotting cancer earlier in screening and diagnostic testing.
Hat tip to MCS for sharing this story.
Couple of thoughts... why hasn't this technology happened already? Why is it only good with a cell phone? If the chip becomes inexpensive, do you think producers will eventually market a version to the general public? If such a thing were available, as a patient would you want it readily available for personal use? Could personal use cause potentially false positive security or undue stress? So many questions...
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to me how fast and furious technology has evolved. If you've ever watched programs like CSI you have seen agents pulling up information on clear screens and moving the data around much like we do today on our phones. We really aren't that far from having that type of capability on our pcs. Recently, I read an article that listed the ten top enhancements IPad user would like to see in the newest release, due out March 2011. Among the features requested…more touch screen capabilities. Technology is a great thing. What will be next? Personally I cannot wait until I can be teleported during a lunch break to an outside cafe that overlooks the seaside somewhere off the Amalfi Coast. A dream? Maybe not. Beam me up or over please Scotty!