Researchers have developed a cancer “sorting machine” that could distinguish a few malignant cells among billions of benign ones.
Two engineers at Johns Hopkins University said that their “microfluidic device” uses gravity to separate cells into groups that can be analyzed.
And although it is still in its early stages, the sorting machine might someday be used by health-care providers. Doctoral student Jorge A. Bernate, one of the engineers, said, “The ultimate goal is to develop a simple device that can be used in routine checkups by health care. It could be used to detect the handful of circulating tumor cells that have managed to survive among billions of normal blood cells. This could save millions of lives.”
The study was published in the online edition of “Physical Review Letters.”
