November 18, 2008

Disease detection within a minute

A new system has been developed by immunologists, which will detect a virus within a minute. This will require the patient to undergo a surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy; this will measure the amount of near infrared laser light. They will also need to have a swab taken from the nasal passage after which the tests can be compared.

Once this data has been collected the system will detect individual particles of viruses, once this has been done then a fast identification of the illness can be made, this could be essential during a pandemic such as bird flu or even a terrorist attack.

One practical application for this system would be at the airports where thousands of people are travelling in and out of the country every day; this could be prevent diseases being brought into the country and even help travellers who get on flights when they are stopped because of looking ill.

Source [Science Daily]