Taipei, April 26 (CNA) A professor at National Chung Cheng University (NCCU) who invented a chip that can detect tumor markers in the early stages of cancer in just 30 minutes is looking to partner with medical suppliers and producers to introduce the technology to the commercial market.

According to a Thursday press release from NCCU, the technology -- the protein preconcentrator with nano-interstices -- that Jen Chun-ping (任春平) invented, can detect tumor markers, which are made up of proteins, in the bloodstream when they are at low levels in the beginning stages of cancer.

The technology can lead to an early diagnosis, since traditional methods of diagnosis are only able to detect the markers when there is a large concentration in the later stages of cancer.

Furthermore, NCCU noted that the technology, which took five years to develop, expedites the detection process, from at least one day of tests to a 30-minute wait.

All the chip requires is five microliters of blood or urine and an application of low voltage -- 36 volts -- to analyze the sample.

Besides looking for business partners to commodify the technology, Lee is also working with a Russian research team to develop a similar technology for the detection of Alzheimer's disease.

(By Huang Guo-fang and Kuan-lin Liu)
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