Point of Care: an iPod-sized biosensor

The miniature NMR biosensor is an ongoing nanotechnological challenge. A recent Nature article describes one such device (figure shown above) made with a simple permanent magnet, miniaturized NMR electronics, microfluidics for sample handling and an array of microcoils for making NMR measurements. Basically, the device takes in a sample, presumably through some well, and sends it through a network of microfluidic channels that mix it with magnetic nanoparticles that are sensitive to some analyte within the sample. Upon binding to a target, the magnetic nanoparticles cluster and have a shorter T2. Having multiple microfluidic channels enables parallel analysis of different samples. Since you can only fit so many such channels into something the size of an iPod nano, the panel of microfluidic channels will have to be recyclable or replaceable.