TSRC Town Talks: Making Tiny Devices to Treat Big Diseases

27 Jun TSRC Town Talks: Making Tiny Devices to Treat Big Diseases

Earlier detection, quicker diagnosis, and faster treatment of heart disease and cancer are just over the horizon, thanks to the current research of Sherwin Singer, Professor of Chemistry at Ohio State University.

Hear Singer discuss the vision and the science behind these technologies in his presentation, "Directing Traffic on Tiny Highways: Strategies for biomedical nano devices." The Town Talk is produced by the Telluride Science Research Center and will take place this Tuesday from 6:00 to 7:15 p.m. at the Palm Theatre.

Singer envisions a world in which patients suffering from chest pain can be accurately diagnosed with a specific heart condition in a matter of minutes. Traditional methods require laboratory analysis that often takes hours or days. What if the same lab tests could be condensed to the size of a microchip and embedded into a handheld device? This lab-on-a-chip technology holds enormous promise for the medical field.

LOC technology also envisions tiny, implantable, warning systems, able to detect the early onset of diseases. An LOC device could be implanted in a blood vessel. There it would continuously sample, emitting a signal upon detection of tumor cells circulating in the blood stream. This would make possible the detection of cancer at a very early stage, long before the manifestation of symptoms.

Come learn more about the future of medicine and nanotechnology at the Town Talk this Tuesday. For more information, call Nana Naisbitt, TSRC director at 970-708-0004 or visit http://www.telluridescience.org/pinhead/2011. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged.