(image: Korea Bizwire)
CHANGWON, Jan. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — A South Korean research team has developed a new technique for detecting prostate and pancreatic cancer by analyzing urine samples.
A joint research team from the Korea Institute of Materials Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology, and Kyung Hee University announced on Wednesday that it had developed a strip-type urine test that can amplify the optical signal of the metabolome in urine, and successfully diagnoses cancer on-site.
The research team developed a surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensor that can amplify the optical signal of the metabolome in urine by more than 1 billion times by forming a coral reef-shaped plasmonic nanomaterial on top of porous paper material.
During the test, light irradiation after a small droplet of 10-microliter urine can amplify the signal of cancer metabolome on the surface of the sensor without the need to go through a separate analysis process, thereby facilitating the on-site diagnosis of cancer.
Both prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer can be diagnosed using the new test.
The research team explained that the application of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based analytical method for the spectrum signal generated through the irradiation of light into the urine can identify people with prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer with an accuracy of up to 99 percent.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
