Technical Report abstract


Nature Medicine 14, 869 - 874 (2008)
Published online: 6 July 2008 | doi:10.1038/nm.1711

Chip–NMR biosensor for detection and molecular analysis of cells

Hakho Lee1, Eric Sun1, Donhee Ham2 & Ralph Weissleder1


Rapid and accurate measurement of biomarkers in tissue and fluid samples is a major challenge in medicine. Here we report the development of a new, miniaturized diagnostic magnetic resonance (DMR) system for multiplexed, quantitative and rapid analysis. By using magnetic particles as a proximity sensor to amplify molecular interactions, the handheld DMR system can perform measurements on unprocessed biological samples. We show the capability of the DMR system by using it to detect bacteria with high sensitivity, identify small numbers of cells and analyze them on a molecular level in real time, and measure a series of protein biomarkers in parallel. The DMR technology shows promise as a robust and portable diagnostic device.

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  1. Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 185 Cambridge Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02114, USA.
  2. School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, 29 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.

Correspondence to: Ralph Weissleder1 e-mail: rweissleder@mgh.harvard.edu



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