NEWSDESK
05 Oct 2003 02:31:36 GMT
Singapore develops flu detection chip

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SINGAPORE, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Singapore is developing an electronic chip that
can pinpoint almost instantly whether a patient has flu, dengue fever, SARS
or other respiratory illnesses, a local newspaper reported on Sunday.

The government-run Genome Institute of Singapore said it hoped to launch the
respiratory pathogens detection chip, about the size of a 50-cent coin, as
early as January, the Sunday Times reported.

Sputum or nasal fluid from an infected person is dropped on to the chip and
its detection probes then diagnose the pathogen. The institute said it was
working with a major U.S. medical devices company to test the chip soon, but
declined to name the party.

"Patients who have flu, dengue fever or SARS all exhibit similar symptoms in
the early stages of infection. The chip will be able to test for all this at
once, identify if it's one or the other, and doctors will have a clear
picture from the start," Ren Ee Chee, the institute's deputy director, told
the paper.

The deadly flu-like SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus, which
surfaced in southern China earlier this year, has killed more than 800
people worldwide, including 33 in Singapore.

Medical experts have repeatedly warned that the virus could re-emerge in the
northern hemisphere winter months and that existing tests were not entirely
reliable.

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"magnacan" <magnacan*levare*@hotpop.com> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:blp8ql$ejr91$1@ID-193026.news.uni-berlin.de...
> NEWSDESK
> 05 Oct 2003 02:31:36 GMT
> Singapore develops flu detection chip
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
> SINGAPORE, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Singapore is developing an electronic chip
that
> can pinpoint almost instantly whether a patient has flu, dengue fever,
SARS
> or other respiratory illnesses, a local newspaper reported on Sunday.
> The government-run Genome Institute of Singapore said it hoped to launch
the
> respiratory pathogens detection chip, about the size of a 50-cent coin, as
> early as January, the Sunday Times reported.
> Sputum or nasal fluid from an infected person is dropped on to the chip
and
> its detection probes then diagnose the pathogen. The institute said it was
> working with a major U.S. medical devices company to test the chip soon,
but
> declined to name the party.
> "Patients who have flu, dengue fever or SARS all exhibit similar symptoms
in
> the early stages of infection. The chip will be able to test for all this
at
> once, identify if it's one or the other, and doctors will have a clear
> picture from the start," Ren Ee Chee, the institute's deputy director,
told
> the paper.
> The deadly flu-like SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus, which
> surfaced in southern China earlier this year, has killed more than 800
> people worldwide, including 33 in Singapore.
> Medical experts have repeatedly warned that the virus could re-emerge in
the
> northern hemisphere winter months and that existing tests were not
entirely
> reliable.