iEAT Food Allergy Detector
Food allergies, especially for children, can be life threatening, and often detection comes too late. Researchers at Harvard, however, have created a small device that can fit on a key ring and be used to identify antigens of peanuts, gluten, milk and egg white. “The device consists of three components: a small tube-like extraction kit, a disposable electrode chip, and a keychain-sized reader. A food particle is placed into the extraction kit, where antigens bind to corresponding antibodies attached to magnetic beads. The bead-antibody-antigen complexes are then placed on the electrode chip. A series of reduction-oxidation reactions create a measurable current, which can be analyzed when the electrode is slotted into the reader. Results can then be uploaded to a cloud server for easy smartphone access. Impressively, the extraction-to-detection process takes less than 10 minutes.” In the case of gluten, the iEAT device can detect concentrations as little as 0.1 parts per million, much below the FDA’s definition of 20 parts per million for “gluten-free.” MORE
Image Credit: Harvard and MedGadget.com