SensNews Mar 2017

25 / 31

25 Sensor100 March 2017
IdTechEx Publishes New Report on
Diabetes Management
The report examines diabetes technologies across seven
key areas:
Sensors for Glucose Monitoring
Beyond Blood Glucose Monitoring
Sensors for Ketone Monitoring
Smart Insulin Pens
Insulin pumps: towards an artificial pancreas
Sensors for Side Effects
Sensors fro Early Diagnosis
See March 28
UC Berkeley Measures Proteins in Breast Cancer CTCs
“Tremendous advances have been made in DNA and RNA profiling in cells collected
using a liquid biopsy.We extend those advances to highly selective measurement of pro-
teins -- the ‘molecular machines’ of the cell,” said Amy Herr, Berkeley a bioengineering
professor and leader of the study team.“We are working to create medicine that would
allow a doctor to monitor a patient’s treatment response through a blood draw, per-
haps on a daily basis.” To better study circulating tumor cells, the researchers collabo-
rated with physician-scientists and industry engineers to develop a microfluidics system
that separates these large cells into a concentrated sample.A key advance the team
made was in devising a system to precisely handle and manipulate the concentrated
cells from blood.The Berkeley researchers then analyzed each circulating tumor cell for
the specific panel of cancer proteins. To do so, they placed each rare cell in a microwell
(with a diameter roughly half the width of a human hair). Once settled in the microwell,
the circulating tumor cells were burst open and the proteins released from inside each
cell were separated according to differences in size or mass.The scientists were then
able to identify cancer proteins by introducing fluorescent probes that bind to and light
up a specific protein target.
March 24