Class Clicks to Capture Cancer
Doctors may be able to quickly and inexpensively isolate cancer cells to better target the disease with a new device patented by five 欧美口爆视频-Boulder seniors and Wilbur Franklin, a 欧美口爆视频 Cancer Center researcher. The handheld device with a grip the size of an electric toothbrush allows the user to precisely extract cancerous cells from a microscope slide with a pump and expel them into a test tube with the click of a button.
鈥淓xisting techniques are either technical and expensive or low-tech like using a manual pipette to transfer cells,鈥 Franklin says. 鈥淭his device could make it possible for even small hospitals and labs to isolate patients鈥 cells for the genetic testing needed to prescribe the best treatments.鈥
The partnership between the students and the cancer center is part of the mechanical engineering department鈥檚 senior design class. Firms and independent inventors collaborate with five-person student teams to bring vision to design challenges. Only a handful of the projects lead to patents yearly.
For more information, visit colorado.edu and search 鈥.鈥