Researchers at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology have found a low-cost method for detection of cancer. All they would need is blood samples and a device they have designed for detecting cancer. The device would subject blood samples to intense laser beams and analyse results to detect cancer. The test would take five minutes and cost just Tk 500.
The team behind the breakthrough is also making a prototype of the device and expects it to be ready next year.
This is the first time in the world that nonlinear optics is being used for diagnosing cancer, said Prof Yasmeen Haque, who led the team, while presenting the details of the technology at a press conference on Wednesday (Sep 5).
Prof Yasmeen, a physics teacher at SUST, said they have already applied for patents in the US and Bangladesh for "Method and system based on nonlinear optical characteristics of body fluids for diagnosis of neoplasia". Their applications had been accepted and the process for getting the patents has begun.
The researchers said they would go for publications of their method in national and international journals soon.
University Grants Commission of Bangladesh Chairman Prof Abdul Mannan, SUST Vice-Chancellor Prof Farid Uddin Ahmed, among others, addressed the press briefing.
The government and the World Bank under the Higher Education Quality Enhancement Project (HEQEP) provided the necessary fund for the research.
