A New Disease Detect and Capture Device: CAPGLO

Many serious diseases including cancer are treatable and even curable if they are discovered and treated at an early stage. The principal objective of this work is to create an early detection – and capture – system that is accurate, quick, and portable, as well as one that can be manufactured and utilized at a low cost. Capturing enables subsequent laboratory study to determine the strain or variant of the specimen. The science and engineering of “magnetofluoresis” - our variation on the general study of magnetophoresis - that leads to the development of the device is also investigated.



We describe tests carried out with representative, sufficiently sophisticated cells. We coat insect cells as fluorescent functionalized groups and image them using a small digital microscope. With the ability to locate the individual cells and attach micron-sized magnetic particles to them, even a single cell can be guided into a tiny pocket of a sample cuvette with a gradient magnetic field. A digital microscope combined with a filter for fluorescence reading can be used to prove the cell was indeed captured.



The device, with a 3D-printed cuvette, fluorescent dye, and MPs coated with a binding agent, was used to test our ability to detect the target cells. The gradient field draws the resultant MP-cell clusters into the collection region of the sample holder. The “glowing” signal seen in the collection region indicated the presence of captured cells. The cells were then imaged with an inexpensive microscope and counted with software.



We thus have a working prototype: a new low-cost fluorescent digital camera/filter/laser detection system for both capturing and counting the recovered cells. Current work is directed toward comparing the sensitivity levels with the different cancer concentrations in the human body. The total prototype cost including the cuvette is ~$300 for the system, which strongly suggests a (much) lower unit cost for large-scale manufacturing.