Early cancer detection device developed by Pakistani scientist

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A US based Pakistani electrical engineer has developed a device that will help in early cancer detection.

Samir Iqbal is an associate professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). He wrote about his team’s work on the issue in a Nature Scientific Reports paper called “Effects of Nanotexture on Electrical Profiling of Single Tumor Cell and Detection of Cancer from Blood in Microfluidic Channels.”

Iqbal completed his bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Karachi. He then pursued his postgraduate studies in the US, and completed his PhD from the University of Purdue in 2007. He’s been with the UTA ever since and has gained almost $1.4 million in grants.

“The answer was in creating a nanotextured wall that fools blood samples into thinking it is actual tissue,” he said, explaining that the team used “inherent properties of the cell walls to create a diagnostic tool. The cancer cells behave differently as they come into contact with the nanotextured walls. They dance.”

Identifying these “dancing cells” helps doctors pinpoint cancer cells and start treatment earlier than allowed with current technology.

“Discovering the cancer earlier, before it metastasizes, is essential to surviving cancer,” Iqbal said. “Our device has the potential to do that.”

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