Printable Tests to Detect Disease

In the ever-expanding applications of 3D printing, the inkjet printer may soon be able to diagnose what ails you.  Researchers at the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA; Spain), and colleagues have engineered printable plastic transistors that can detect pathogens in blood or saliva. The transistor recognizes the protein biomarkers of common diseases, switching on only when it has detected them. It can be printed with an inkjet printer using a special ink embedded with immunoglobulin G. – changing the transistor’s electrical properties.  The team submits that someday, doctors could print out a sheet of the devices – each equipped with a different disease antigen –and diagnose diseases without delay.