Is the cure for cancer… a pair of strappy new shoes?!
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
Pancreatic cancer is sneaky – it hides until it’s too late. Doctors hunt for clues in blood: a marker called CA19-9. But current tests? Pricey, slow, and very complicated.
Enter Taskeen Ebrahim and team from Stellenbosch University.
They spiked blood with cancer markers. Then, they built a smart, Velcro-like sensor. That’s right: VELCRO! It grabs the cancer marker and sends a message. No bulky lab gear needed!
Results? The velcro-style sensor detected the cancer marker ABOVE the key thirty-seven-unit threshold for pancreatic cancer. Fast, cheap, accurate – triple win!
Best of all, you can tie it with one hand!
Reference: Ebrahim, T., Perold, W., & Engelbrecht, A.-M. (2022). A Capacitive Biosensor for the Early Detection of Pancreatic Cancer Using Carbohydrate Antigen 19-9. Engineering Proceedings, 27(1), 74. https://doi.org/10.3390/ecsa-9-13322