News, Analysis, Trends, Management Innovations for
Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups
Hosted by Robert Michel

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Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups
Hosted by Robert Michel
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Lab-on-a-Fiber Technology Continues to Highlight Nano-Scale Clinical Laboratory Diagnostic Testing in Point-of-Care Environments

Apr 2, 2018 | Digital Pathology, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing

Ever shrinking “lab-on-a-…” technologies, a boon to medical laboratories and anatomic pathologists in remote resource-strapped regions, also have a place in modern labs

Researchers took another leap forward in reducing the size of clinical laboratory diagnostic tests and observational tools. This demonstration involved lab-on-a-fiber technology and showed promise in both monitoring anatomic pathology biomarkers in vivo and supplementing the abilities of existing lab-on-a-chip and microfluidic devices.

Lab-on-a-Fiber Next Technological Step Toward Miniaturization

In 2013, Dark Daily reported on research into an implantable laboratory-on-a-chip (LOC) for monitoring blood chemistry during chemotherapy. It was a major breakthrough at the time, which promised new and powerful tools for cancer treatment regimens.

However, most LOC systems aren’t designed for wet environments. Also, while microfluidics and flexible membranes allow for smaller footprints and tighter placement, they are still invasive in ways that might make patients uncomfortable or make real-world use less than ideal. And, long-term use brings further complications, such as corrosion or foreign-body granulomas.

Thus, lab-on-a-fiber’s ability to function in vivo, is one of the device’s principal advantages, as ExtremeTech noted.

Lab-on-a-fiber technology addresses many concerns. It is small enough to insert directly into organs, muscle mass, or veins when used as biosensors. And the fibers can return a wealth of information by using light and reflection, while allowing for minimal discomfort and precision placement.

Schematic of the lab-on-a-fiber biosensing principle. A metallic nanostructure supporting a resonant plasmonic mode is integrated on the optical fiber tip. When a molecular binding event occurs at the sensor surface, the reflectance peak associated to the plasmonic mode shifts towards longer wavelengths. (Image and caption copyright: Analyst/The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

The Past and Future of Scaling Clinical Laboratory Testing

Dark Daily has followed these miniaturization trends for years starting with their earliest stages. A detailed timeline of developments can be viewed in “Lab-on-a-Chip Diagnostics: When Will Clinical Laboratories See the Revolution?” from 2016.

Additional Dark Daily “lab-on-a-…” coverage includes:

In the past year, a myriad of lab-on-a-fiber applications also have received media coverage, including:

Developers believe lab-on-a-fiber approaches could offer further adaptability and functionality to other “lab-on-a-…” technologies. For example, as highlighted in Advanced Science News, researchers are employing lab-on-a-fiber technologies to further refine and improve LOC functions and designs.

“As the scientific world moves inexorably to smaller dimensions … The emerging concept of ‘lab‐on‐fiber’ will give the optical fiber platform additional (highly integrated) functionalities,” noted Deepak Uttamchandani, PhD, Vice Dean Research, Faculty of Engineering, and, Robert Blue, PhD, Research Fellow, both at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK, in their review paper, “Recent Advances In Optical Fiber Devices for Microfluidics Integration.” The paper, published in the Journal of Biophotonics, examined “the recent emergence of miniaturized optical fiber-based sensing and actuating devices that have been successfully integrated into fluidic microchannels that are part of microfluidic and lab‐on‐chip systems.”

Deepak Uttamchandani, PhD

In his review paper on the emerging concept of lab-on-a-fiber, Deepak Uttamchandani, PhD, notes, “The versatility of the optical fiber platform has already allowed researchers to conduct immunoassays in microchannels using both fluorescently‐labelled and label‐free formats whilst gaining advantages of reduced assay time and increased sensitivity.” (Photo copyright: University of Strathclyde.)

Lab-on-a-Fiber: Another Step Forward or a Major Change?

At each milestone in the scaling of clinical laboratory testing, experts and media outlets predicted the demise of big laboratories and the dawn of a POC-centric testing era. Yet, despite 20-plus years of progress, this has yet to happen.

While it is critical for anatomical pathology leaders and clinical laboratory managers to stay abreast of developments in testing technology, much of the innovation behind lab-on-a-fiber remains strictly in the research realm. Challenges to the commercialization of these new techniques include both physical factors, such as design and manufacture of ready-to-use tests, and regulatory concerns, including FDA clearances and payer approval of new assays and diagnostic procedures.

Until researchers and test manufacturers overcome these hurdles, threats to current standards and workflows are minimal. However, much like the gains in scale realized through incorporating lab-on-a-chip concepts into clinical laboratory testing, the research powering these innovations might prove useful in further improving and expanding medical laboratory testing options.

—Jon Stone

 

Related Information:

Optical Fiber Devices for Microfluidics Integration Open Up New Horizons for Advanced “Lab-on-a-Chip” Technologies

Recent Advances in Optical Fiber Devices for Microfluidics Integration

Lab-on-Fiber Technology: A New Vision for Chemical and Biological Sensing [Abstract]

Lab-on-Fiber Technology: A New Vision for Chemical and Biological Sensing [Full Downloadable PDF]

How We’re Shrinking Chemical Labs onto Optical Fibers

Lab-on-Fiber Could Shine Light on Disease

Doctors Might Soon Diagnose You by Feeding a Lab-on-a-Fiber Straight into Your Veins

Fiber-Optic Device Can Detect Stray Cancer Cells and Improve Tumor Removal: Study

Fiber Optic Probe Beats a Biopsy for Measuring Muscle Health

Lab-on-a-Chip Diagnostics: When Will Clinical Laboratories See the Revolution?

Implantable Medical Laboratory-on-a-Chip Continuously Monitors Key Chemicals in Chemotherapy and High-Risk Patients

In the Field of Nano-Scale Diagnostics, Many Researchers Are Developing ‘Lab-on-Skin’ Technologies That Can Monitor Many Clinical Laboratory Biomarkers

Hematology on a Chip: University of Southampton Develops POC Blood Analysis

Sleek ‘Lab in a Needle’ Is an All-in-One Device That Detects Liver Toxicity in Minutes during a Study, Showing Potential to Supplant Some Medical Laboratory Tests

Whole Animal Assays Use Lab-on-a-Chip at MIT

IBM and Mount Sinai Researchers Develop Innovative Medical Lab-on-a-Chip Solution

In the Field of Nano-Scale Diagnostics, Many Researchers Are Developing ‘Lab-on-Skin’ Technologies That Can Monitor Many Clinical Laboratory Biomarkers

Technologies on IBM’s 5-in-5 List Could Impact Pathology and Clinical Laboratories

Mar 31, 2017 | Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology

This year, one of IBM’s closely-watched picks of the technologies most likely to have the greatest impact on society is the medical lab-on-a-chip

Clinical laboratory testing and diagnostics are one of the five technologies included in IBM’s 2017 list of the technologies it predicts will have the greatest impact on society during the next five years. Of equal interest to medical laboratory professionals is that several of the other technologies included in IBM’s list have the potential be used in medical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups.

IBM Research, corporate research laboratory for parent company IBM (NYSE:IBM), has more than 3,000 researchers working in 12 labs on six continents. Each year the lab releases a list of five technologies it forecasts will have the greatest influence on how our bodies, minds, society, and the planet, develop over the next five years. The list is called “5-in-5” and has been released annually for the past 10 years by the tech giant. (more…)

IBM and Mount Sinai Researchers Develop Innovative Medical Lab-on-a-Chip Solution

Oct 3, 2016 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory Management and Operations, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing

Clinical laboratories and pathology groups may eventually use these devices to detect minute quantities of biomarkers

IBM has regularly declared its interest in being a player in the field of healthcare big data. Now comes news that the information technology giant wants to develop lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technology that can handle different types of clinical laboratory and anatomic pathology tests.

As reported in Nature Nanotechnology, researchers at IBM are working with a team from Mount Sinai Health System. Together, they created a lab-on-a-chip device capable of separating biomolecules as small as 20nm in length from urine, saliva, or blood samples without the need for specialized clinical laboratory equipment. The technology is called nanoDLD.

Current testing of this lab-on-a-chip focuses on exosomes and cancer research. However, researchers note that the asymmetric pillar array on their silicon chip can also separate DNA, viruses, and protein complexes. With further development, they hope to separate particles down to 10nm in length. This would allow isolation of specific proteins. (more…)

Lab-on-a-Chip Diagnostics: When Will Clinical Laboratories See the Revolution?

Sep 9, 2016 | Digital Pathology, Instruments & Equipment, Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing

Offering lower costs and quicker returns than much of the traditional lab equipment in use today, lab-on-a-chip devices are again in a position to revolutionize pathology and medical laboratory work

For nearly 20 years, researchers have heralded microfluidic devices, paper-based diagnostics, and other lab-on-a-chip (LOC) technologies, as ways for medical laboratory scientists, pathologists, and other medical diagnostic professionals to reduce the time and costs of clinical laboratory services. With the promise of obtaining results in just minutes without the need for extensive training, these point-of-care tests and devices create big buzz with each new design.

An yet, after all that progress, most laboratories still depend on their spectrometers, flow cytometers, blood analyzers, and other equipment for the bulk of their testing and routines.

That leaves one major question for clinical laboratory professionals and chip developers alike—when is the revolution? (more…)

NIH Funds Nine Anti-Microbial Resistance Diagnostic Projects to Deal with ‘Super Bugs’ and Give Clinical Laboratories New Diagnostic Tools to Improve Patient Care

Nov 13, 2015 | Laboratory Instruments & Laboratory Equipment, Laboratory News, Laboratory Operations, Laboratory Pathology, Laboratory Testing, Management & Operations

Lab-on-a-chip technology could reduce the time needed to identify infection-causing bacteria and for physicians to prescribe correct antibiotics 

Pathology groups and medical laboratories may see their role in the patient-care process grow if researchers succeed in developing culture-independent diagnostic tools that quickly identify bacterial infections as well as pinpoint the antibiotics needed to treat them.

In the battle against antibiotic-resistant infections (AKA “super bugs”) the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is funding nine research projects aimed at thwarting the growing problem of life-threatening infections that no longer are controlled or killed by today’s arsenal of drugs.

Common Practices in Hospitals Leading to Super Bugs

Currently, when infections are suspected in hospitals or other settings where illness can quickly spread, samples are sent to a central medical laboratory where it may take up to three days to determine what germ is causing the infection. Because of that delay, physicians often prescribe broad-spectrum antibiotics based on a patient’s symptoms rather than lab test results, a practice that can lead to the growth of antibiotic-resistant microbes. (more…)

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