“Swiss Army Knife of Biosensing” TRI Analyzer Technology Available for License

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has developed the “Swiss Army Knife of Biosensing” TRI Analyzer Technology

Orange County, CA - August 16th 2017 - Common laboratory tests can now be analyzed through a smartphone with ease, this convenience is thanks to researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.Traditionally, common tests using blood, urine, and saliva samples from patients are processed through large and expensive medical equipment with results taking days to process. An alternative, costing only $550, the spectral transmission-reflectance-intensity (TRI)-Analyzer attaches easily to a smartphone and examines those same samples with the reliability of a clinical instrument.

Professor Brian Cunningham, the Donald Biggar Willett Professor of Engineering and Director of the Micro and Nanotechnology Lab at the University of Illinois said, "Our TRI Analyzer is like the Swiss Army knife of biosensing. It's capable of performing the three most common types of tests in medical diagnostics, so in practice, thousands of already-developed tests could be adapted to it.” The research team insists its uses span beyond that of any common smartphone app. "The TRI Analyzer is more of a portable laboratory than a specialized device," said Kenny Long, an MD/PhD student and lead author of the research study. In addition to the aforementioned tests, other diagnostic assessments that are smartphone compatible include an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), responsible for identifying the varieties and measurements of a different antibodies and proteins in blood, frequently used for a range of diagnostic tests.