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Smartphone Device Detects Cancer In an Hour
kkleiner writes "Scientists at the Center for Systems Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital have integrated a microNMR device that accurately detects cancer cells and integrates with a smartphone (abstract). Though just a prototype, this device enables a clinician to extract small amounts of cells from a mass inside of a patient, analyze the sample on the spot, acquire the results in an hour, and pass the results to other clinicians and into medical records rapidly. How much does the device cost to make? $200. Seriously, smartphones just got their own Samuel L. Jackson-esque wallet."
Reader Stoobalou points out other cancer-related news that Norwegian researchers have found a group of genes that increase a person's risk to develop lung cancer.
Actually, in my book it's the programmer(s) who deserve that wallet. Seriously, they probably just saved a few people's lives by writing good software. How many of us can claim that?
Anything that helps make detecting cancer cheaper, easier, and faster is good in my book.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
It seems an article is at least 10 times more relevant in the news, if the word "Smartphone" is in the headline. In reality, this is just a normal device which has nothing to do with calling people or surfing on the web.
If you read the abstract, you'll notice Smartphones aren't even mentioned.
Seriously: can someone explain wtf a "Samuel L. Jackson-esque wallet" is? I know who Mr. Jackson is, and I know what a a wallet is, but I'm clearly missing something here.
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Not to be confused with Col.
A device that can cause cancer, is now able to detect it.
interactive hologram, or it didn't happen.
just give me a device which can emit large amounts of radiation, and I'll give you a device which can tell you on the dot, when you have a significantly increased risk of developing cancer!
If your hand is bigger than your face you have cancer.
There's an app for that!
The "Tricorder Attachment"
Sounds a lot like a tricorder to me!
Reader Stoobalou points out other cancer-related news that Norwegian researchers have found a group of genes that increase a person's risk to develop lung cancer.
Natural selection can only work on weeding out genes that affect reproduction. So genes that kill you so slowly that the genes have passed on to the next generation will live long. Genes that trade higher reproduction success for problems in post-reproduction life will be at an advantage. When that advantage runs amok, the organism will die almost immediately after reproducing. Like salmon. So in some sense almost the entire genome is making this trade off, and one could argue that at some life span, the entire genome is carcinogenic!!!
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
Hopefully we can tune that to STDs and make it close to instant.
Of course this $200 device will be $20,000 by the time it makes it through the medical industry and everyone gets their pound of flesh.
I recently needed use of a Holter Monitor, which as far as I can tell could be made for $20, yet was charged $500 for 1 day's use. Until we sweep out the profiteers nothing in our health care system will be cheap.
The app is named, i(have)Cancer
life is a tragedy to those who feel, and a comedy to those who think
Seriously, I am not saying this is a bad thing, but I think that more effort should be put into stopping the root causes of different types of cancers, like banishing several food additives and so forth that have been shown to develop cancer in the long run. The chaga mushroom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaga_mushroom have been used where I live (northern Finland) in generations to avoid cancer and other sicknesses. It's not a cure for cancer, but it prohibits the free radicals in the body. Russians hunters have since long ago used tea made from the chaga mushroom to keep themselves health, and records show that they had lower rates of cancer.
Wikipedia: "In 1998 there was a study in Poland that demonstrated Chaga's inhibiting effects on tumor growth."
I believe that the answers to human health are found in nature. Just look at the new Brazilian spider whose bite causes a 4-hour long erection, how cool is that? So, why don't we just stop destroying our nature, just google "china pollution photos" and you'll see what I mean. The diversity in nature is starting to fail... :/ (and cannot be restored during our lifetime)
Now we have a device that causes cancer, but detects the cancer it causes. Much better.
So, now I have to get a smartphone and increase my risk of getting cancer in order to detect if I have cancer?
That's why my cigarette case is already engraved "Bad Ass Mother Fucker".
Set your phasers on "funky"!
As a physician, one of the problems I see is that it will be hard for the doctor doing the testing to know that they really sampled the mass/lesion. Many tumors/benign masses can be vary in makeup from one area to another, or have only a few tumor cells spread around in between "normal" cells or fibrosis. A "benign" reading from this machine may just be due to not getting enough of the tumor / or from sampling the wrong area. Light microscopy (doing a biopsy - which can be done with relatively small needles and then looking at it under a microscope) allows a pathologist to see if it was adequately sampled or not. Sometimes you have to go back for more ... but at least you know that you need to go back to get an accurate diagnosis. Additionally, just saying "benign" is not always enough. There are many "benign" conditions that are not cancer and are not going to metastasize (spread throughout the body like cancer) that can still spread locally and require excision. Or conditions that are not cancer, but have an increased risk of becoming cancer. Light microscopy can usually tell us all of this and more. Plus, light microscopy is very cheap - just some fixatives, paraffin, and some glass slides. I know I would rather wait a day or two to have a definitive, informed diagnosis...