Microfluidic Device to Enable Earlier Cancer Diagnosis

Ranked as one of the top 10 deadliest cancers, pancreatic cancer has a devastating rate of 94% deaths within five years. To-date, few advancements have enabled an early and fast diagnosis – unlike routine screenings now available for breast and colon cancers.  University of Washington (Washington, USA) researchers are developing a novel microfluidic device the size of a credit card, which aims to perform a tissue biopsy as well as analyze the specimen in a matter of minutes, to determine whether it is cancerous.