UQ uses nanotechnology in medical testing

University of Queensland researchers are using nanotechnology in the medical diagnostic testing of diseases such as cervical cancer.

Dr Simon Corrie from UQ's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), is part of a team looking at using biomarkers " substances in the body whose levels can indicate the presence of disease " for early detection of cervical cancer without invasive testing.

"Current diagnostic testing can involve biopsies of tissue and cells to look for changes with the results not known for a few days," Corrie said.

"What we are doing is looking at deeper molecular changes to detect diseases at a much earlier stage with results known straight away. We intend on developing the test that uses blood, urine or saliva so it is much less invasive."

Corrie said the process involves using various biomarkers, identified by collaborators at the University of Washington, to be detected and bar-coded.

Then it is a matter of using the technology to pick up the particular bar-coded and deliver a result.

"We are concentrating on cervical cancer at the moment, but this technology can be applied to any disease where the biomarkers are known," he said.

Nanotechnology is being used to miniaturise and simplify the test so it can be used just as easily in a doctor's surgery as in a pathology lab.