KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN. A new type of laser scanning microscope has recently been developed by a team of researchers using a commercial DVD drive. As we all know, DVD drives optics which are used to read digital data on digital discs.
This time, the optics was used as a laser scanning microscope to analyze blood in order to perform cellular imaging with one-micrometre resolution. That way, they were able to develop a new and faster technique for on-the-spot HIV testing. The good thing about this technology is that it is a very simple tool to use and is very much affordable as compared to other complicated machines.
The research team was headed by Aman Russom, senior lecturer at the School of Biotechnology at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Russom also claims that they have created a cheap analytical tool for DNA, RNA, proteins and even entire cells with the use of an ordinary DVD player. This new method makes it possible to perform a complete HIV test in just a matter of minutes.
Currently, hospitals are using flow cytometry to perform the same tasks that the newly developed “Lab-on-DVD” technology is capable of. The difference is all in the price tag wherein the flow cytometry units can cost over USD30,000 while the mass-produced Lab-on-DVD units are readily available for less than USD200. At the same time, the newly developed technology requires less training to operate and is much more portable as compared to the flow cytometry unit.
| Invention | Lab-on-DVD |
|---|---|
| Organization | Kth Royal Institute Of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden |
| Researcher | Aman Russom & Team |
| Field(s) | Optical Storage Technology, Flow Cytometry, HIV Test, Cellular Imaging, Laser Scanning, CD4 |
| Further Information | Phys Org |
