Point-of-Care Chemiluminescent Diagnostic for 'early detection'of the predisposition to Type 2 diabetes.

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Chemically induced light emission technology is being coupled to engineered nanoscale structures to create a unique type of sensor which is so sensitive and so specific that it will be able to measure extremely low levels of disease markers in a blood sample. The molecules of interest for a proof of concept demostrator are those associated with Type 2 diabetes. The point-of-care diagnostic will allow a member of the public to determine whether they are likely to develop Type 2 Diabetic within the next 5 years of life. The user would be able to do this at home, at a pharmacist or under the supevision of their doctor. The key to the technology is the nanostructure and composition of a biosensing patch which can be produced in extremely large numbers at low cost by combining scale up techniques to make large sheets of the nanoscale material with extremely fast laser cutting processes which are able to cut channels which are only 10 micrometers wide.The technology has the potential to be configured to measure panels of disease markers within a single blood spot sample, which has the potential to measure the severity of disease and determine how far the disease has progressed.The high sensitivity and specificity of the diagnostic will allow early diagnososis of disease, which will lead to improved patient outcomes.Other applications include environmental and food monitoring and anti-counterfeit.