Engineers at the University of Texas at Austin have created a "lab-on-a-chip" device that can detect small amounts of virus in a sample. With the device, one silicon chip can test several patients with the accuracy of a clinical test, without the need for a trip to the hospital.
The device, still a prototype, can detect diluted samples of COVID-19 and multiple types of early-stage cancer, according to a paper published in Applied Physics Review.
The federal and state government-backed research team said the device's reliance on silicon chips makes it inexpensive and easily scalable.