We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress
Sign In
Advertise with Us
PURITAN MEDICAL

Download Mobile App





Diagnostic Microchip Inserted Under Skin Can Detect COVID-19

By LabMedica International staff writers
Posted on 14 Apr 2021
Print article
Image: Diagnostic Microchip Inserted Under Skin Can Detect COVID-19 (Photo courtesy of DARPA)
Image: Diagnostic Microchip Inserted Under Skin Can Detect COVID-19 (Photo courtesy of DARPA)
Researchers have created a microchip that can detect COVID-19 when inserted under the skin.

The implantable microchip developed by medical researchers at the US Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA; Arlington, VA, USA) can monitor the human body for signs of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Details of the revolutionary technology were shared on the 60 Minutes Show by Matthew Hepburn, an infectious disease physician and retired Army colonel who is heading DARPA’s response to the pandemic.

Hepburn told CBS that the microchip, embedded in a tissue-like gel, would continuously test the chip recipient’s blood for presence of the coronavirus. Upon detecting COVID-19, the chip would alert the patient to conduct a self-administered rapid blood test to confirm the positive result. According to Hepburn, DARPA had also developed a filter to remove the SARS-CoV-2 virus from the blood through a dialysis machine. The filter had been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and had already been used on 300 patients. Additionally, Hepburn compared the diagnostic microchip to a car’s “Check engine” alert and assured that DARPA’s chip would neither “track your every move” nor be administered via vaccines.

“It’s a sensor,” Hepburn told CBS. “That tiny green thing in there, you put it underneath your skin and what that tells you is that there are chemical reactions going on inside the body and that signal means you are going to have symptoms tomorrow. We can have that information in three to five minutes. As you truncate that time, as you diagnose and treat, what you do is you stop the infection in its tracks.”

Related Links:
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

Platinum Member
COVID-19 Rapid Test
OSOM COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test
HLX
Complement 3 (C3) Test
GPP-100 C3 Kit
New
Gold Member
SARS-CoV-2 Reactive & Non-Reactive Controls
Qnostics SARS-CoV-2 Typing

Print article

Channels

Clinical Chemistry

view channel
Image: Reaching speeds up to 6,000 RPM, this centrifuge forms the basis for a new type of inexpensive, POC biomedical test (Photo courtesy of Duke University)

POC Biomedical Test Spins Water Droplet Using Sound Waves for Cancer Detection

Exosomes, tiny cellular bioparticles carrying a specific set of proteins, lipids, and genetic materials, play a crucial role in cell communication and hold promise for non-invasive diagnostics.... Read more

Molecular Diagnostics

view channel
Image: MOF materials efficiently enrich cfDNA and cfRNA in blood through simple operational process (Photo courtesy of Science China Press)

Blood Circulating Nucleic Acid Enrichment Technique Enables Non-Invasive Liver Cancer Diagnosis

The ability to diagnose diseases early can significantly enhance the effectiveness of clinical treatments and improve survival rates. One promising approach for non-invasive early diagnosis is the use... Read more

Hematology

view channel
Image: The low-cost portable device rapidly identifies chemotherapy patients at risk of sepsis (Photo courtesy of 52North Health)

POC Finger-Prick Blood Test Determines Risk of Neutropenic Sepsis in Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy

Neutropenia, a decrease in neutrophils (a type of white blood cell crucial for fighting infections), is a frequent side effect of certain cancer treatments. This condition elevates the risk of infections,... Read more

Pathology

view channel
Image: The OvaCis Rapid Test discriminates benign from malignant epithelial ovarian cysts (Photo courtesy of INEX)

Intra-Operative POC Device Distinguishes Between Benign and Malignant Ovarian Cysts within 15 Minutes

Ovarian cysts represent a significant health issue for women globally, with up to 10% experiencing this condition at some point in their lives. These cysts form when fluid collects within a thin membrane... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2024 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.