With filing insurance claims and data management often overwhelming health care management, demand is extremely high for any device that improves point-of-care testing. They will in turn provide faster, more accurate diagnoses. And better diagnoses mean improved treatment outcomes for patients.

U. chemist Marc Porter and his colleagues used the same technology at the heart of miniaturized hard disk drives to create the new rapid-screening sensor. Using a phenomenon known as giant magnetoresistance (GMR), the device can detect samples on much smaller areas compared to older technologies, the papers note.

As a test, Porter demonstrated the GMR sensor could detect as few as 800 magnetic beads with microscopic dimensions. "Several laboratories have begun to transition GMRs from the data storage domain to that of the bioanalytical sciences," the paper states. "We believe that, by leveraging advances made in the magnetic recording industry (for example portable digital music players), a robust, field-deployable, assay device capable of sensing single-binding events is just over the horizon."

Routine use of the electronic readers is several years away, however. The researchers point out that numerous previous attempts have been made to gather and share medical information with some of the myriad facets of a health-care system. The latest research is a small step toward the ultimate information technology advancement — a single data system that is accessible and works for physicians, patients, pharmacists, paramedics, hospitals, drug manufacturers, dentists, optometrists and all other related entities within the scope of a health-care system.

People expect a personal computer to retrieve, read and process data on a hard drive, said Porter, a Utah Science, Technology and Research professor of chemistry, chemical engineering and bioengineering. "Imagine having the same technology to monitor your health."

USTAR research scientist Michael Granger, a co-author of the research, adds: "You can envision this as a wellness check in which a patient sample — blood, urine, saliva — is spotted on a sample stick or card, scanned, and then the readout indicates your state of well-being. We have a great sensor able to look for many disease markers."

Even in its novel stage, this approach could greatly reduce the cost of and the time required for analysis compared to regular off-site laboratory testing that often requires hours or days for results.

In the meantime, Porter expects a more advanced version of the device will start being used to test farm animals for diseases in about two years, and that a version for human medical tests could begin clinical evaluation in five.

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