Fans are very familiar with the "three recorders" in Spock's hands in Star Trek films, and Chinese instruments can actually be used in reality. A small device similar to "Three Recorders" will be available next year. Today we will introduce the new product in detail.
Developed by scientists at Newcastle, this small hand-held device can perform DNA analysis in 15 minutes with precision that rivals the most advanced laboratories available today. The goal of the researchers is to put the Q-POC instrument on the market by the end of 2016. It can quickly and accurately complete the diagnosis and treatment of a series of diseases such as Ebola and sexually transmitted diseases.
Jonathan O'Halloran, 39, has been working on this instrument for eight years. He hopes to design a hand-held device that allows doctors to have laboratory-level analysis capabilities, and even allow ordinary people to diagnose and treat diseases themselves.
He is also the co-founder of Newcastle's medical device manufacturer QuantuMDx, who compared his invention to the "Tripod Recorder" in Star Trek. He said: "The goal we hope to achieve is to be able to use this instrument to diagnose the disease in situ."
The company’s website writes: “QuantuMDx is the future. Just a few minutes and a few dollars, our handheld disease analysis laboratory can perform complex disease diagnosis anywhere on Earth.
The newly developed prototype device is about 9 feet (about 20 cm) long and is equipped with a screen and a dedicated place for inserting test tubes containing blood and other samples.
The instrument replicates the sample through a chemical process called polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to obtain enough DNA for genetic testing of specific diseases. Each test tube is pre-filled with specific reagents for a particular disease. The operator can insert several test tubes with different functions into the instrument at the same time, so as to obtain the diagnosis results of various diseases in a short time. It takes only 10 to 15 minutes and the result is displayed on the screen.
O'Horraland said that in the tests they conducted, the instrument was able to detect malaria and give advice on medication.
He also hopes that such instruments can be used to quickly diagnose infectious diseases such as gonorrhea and other sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) so that patients can be treated faster without having to wait for a few days to get a diagnosis.
The instrument can also diagnose resistant germs and prevent the outbreak of super diseases, such as the recent "excessive gonorrhea" that occurs in parts of the United Kingdom.
This technology may help reduce the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which has claimed 11,314 lives. O'Halloran believes that by shortening the diagnosis and treatment time, people can stop deadly infections like Ebola.
This instrument is small and portable, can fit into a pocket, and is designed for use in remote areas where there is no steady supply of electricity or clean water.
Researchers hope that one day, it can be used to diagnose and treat tuberculosis, tropical diseases, infectious diseases in hospitals, new infectious diseases such as swine flu, and early maternal and child diagnosis of AIDS.
If the prototype device is manufactured in Singapore, the cost will be about 80 US dollars (about 506 yuan), but the company hopes to reduce costs, to achieve mass production. They hope that the cost of the portable device can be controlled between $5 and $20 (about $31 to $126).
O'Hallolland said: “Most people think — and they like to say it to me — we can't just diagnose DNA by analyzing DNA. We also said that we even have a DNA detection system on a handheld device. Can't do it."
He believes that his invention can change the entire medical industry. Centralized laboratories will be replaced by hand-held instruments. Diagnosis can be completed within minutes, instead of days or even weeks.
The company is also developing another similar instrument that can be used for the diagnosis of cancer.
"Three Recorder" R & D Competition
In 2013, related companies launched a competition to encourage the development of "Three Recorders" in reality. They set up the Qualcomm TricorderX Award in hopes of inspiring people to invent a wireless device that can detect diseases such as anemia, tuberculosis, and diabetes.
The winner of the competition will be announced in 2016 with a maximum prize of £4.3 million (approximately RMB 43 million).
One of the finalists was Scanadu from Silicon Valley, who announced a hand-held scanner at the 2013 Consumer Electronics Seminar (CESconference). There are many different kinds of sensors, and there is a microphone on the top of the instrument that can read various vital signs. Including body temperature, heart rate, blood oxygen level, heart rate variability and pulse wave conduction time (referred to as PWTT, refers to the time of a heartbeat transmitted to other parts of the body, and blood pressure related).
The company claims that the instrument can diagnose in less than 10 seconds with an accuracy of 99%. This information will then be stored on the smartphone app for patients to monitor on their own or share it with doctors.
This "Three Recorder" is equipped with a micro USB adapter that can be recharged with a USB socket and can be fully charged in less than an hour.
Another device developed by ScanNurse, a London company, uses computer vision technology to analyze the photos taken by the camera. They want to use this system to observe the inside of the ear or throat -- just like doctors do -- and upload the images they take to a computer for analysis.
Other teams used blood and urine samples to monitor vital signs of life. They claim that these microfluidic devices can function similarly to hospital laboratories.
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