In with the old—and the new—for faster medical tests

Combing old science with new developments has led to a faster method of receiving results for HIV, Lyme disease, syphilis, rotavirus and other infectious conditions.

Shawn Putnam, an assistant professor in the University of Central Florida (UCF)'s College of Engineering & Computer Science, combined a magnetic phenomenon called the Faraday rotation, discovered over 170 years ago, with nanoscience to create tests for a multitude of infectious conditions.

"I see no reason why a variation of this technique couldn't be in every hospital throughout the world," said Putnam.

In the research study, published in Small , Putnam was able to cover nanoparticles with a bovine serum albumin antibody, which is used as the base in many diagnostic tests. Taking the nanoparticle and mixing it into a solution that binds the BAS proteins with the antibodies, Putnam then develop a new way to measure the number of proteins present by using iron core nanoparticles and a magnetic field to align the nanoparticles in a particular formation that revels the number of proteins with laser optics.   

This method can be used to produced biochemical immunology test results in 15 minutes, compared to waiting hours for standard biomolecule tests. The BSA protein can be substituted with other antigens for a broader spectrum of possible medical test.