Multi-Allergen Screening Technology (MAST)

我们一直在研究新技术，最终将允许对血液进行多达100项测试，而无需以任何方式准备样本。MAST平台的第一个目标将是筛查过敏。当血液中的抗体浓度达到触发水平时，就会发生过敏反应，然后开始出现流鼻涕的症状。然而，浓度比触发水平高出10，000倍可能会导致致命的过敏性休克。在西方文化中，过敏症正在增加，尽管在非洲大陆仍然相当罕见。是什么导致了这种上升？大约6000万美国人患有空气传播过敏症，但1100万人患有严重的、危及生命的食物过敏症。该技术将允许在全科医生处进行简单的血液测试，以筛选前10名，20名或100名过敏症，并在8分钟内为患者提供答案。从这份过敏档案中，我们很快就能发现过敏是否相关，以及它们如何共同作用形成极端反应。这项技术如果成功的话，每个GP手术将花费5000美元，每个测试大约30美元。目前研究的目标是在实验室中使用该仪器，并为全面的临床验证做好准备。

We have been working on new technology that will ultimately allow up to 100 tests to be performed on blood without the need to prepare the sample in any way. The first target for the MAST platform will be to screen for allergy. The allergic response occurs when the concentrations of an antibody in the blood reach trigger level and then symptoms of runny nose begin to show. However, concentration much 10,000 times greater than the trigger level can cause a fatal anaphylactic shock. Allergy is on the increase in western cultures although it remains fairly rare on the African continent. What is causing this rise? Some 60 million Americans suffer from some airborne allergy but 11 million have serious, life-threatening food allergies. The technology will allow a simple blood test to be performed at the GP to screen for the top 10, 20 or 100 allergies and give an answer to the patient in 8 minutes. From this profile of allergy we will soon be able to discover whether allergies are related and how they work together to form an extreme response. The technology if successful will cost 5K for each GP surgery and approximately 30 per test. The objective of the current research is to take the instrument in the laboratory and make it ready for a full clinical validation.