Novel Ways to Use POC and Nanotechnology in Clinical Medicine

Abstract

Nano and microtechnologies have a big potential to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of a wide range of diseases. In this seminar, I will highlight three examples that may be unusual to the audience. A. ThromboCheck has been developed from the Atlanta Center for Microengineering for Point of Care technologies (ACME-POCT). We converted a complex system to recreate heart attacks from the flow of whole blood under using microfluidics into a simple POC device that can be run by the phlebotomist to yield clinically relevant info within 5 minutes. B. Nanoparticles have been suggested for drug delivery systems. However, we have recently found that the nanoparticles themselves may have therapeutic value in preventing heart attacks as a novel therapy. These nanoparticles act by physics so have a device instead of pharmaceutical regulatory pathway with potential $1 bn savings in development cost. C. Lastly, new microPCR techniques have been used for diagnosing COVID. The next pathogen ripe for PoC development should be other respiratory diseases such as TB that is the number one killer of children around the world. A novel sampling technique may allow better surveillance and adoption than sputum or nasal swabs while providing more information on who need not be quarantined.