Handheld cancer detector nears home-based early-detection breakthrough

Researchers at Westlake University in China have unveiled a handheld cancer-screening device that can detect early-stage cancer biomarkers from a single blood drop. Using a compact 3D metamaterial Bound States-in-the-Continuum sensing chip, the device replaces bulky laboratory equipment with a portable chip, LED, and photodetector, enabling at-home or remote testing. In trials with 171 patient serum samples, it achieved 94.9% accuracy for early cancer detection and 92.1% for post-surgery monitoring—far outperforming the standard ELISA method (74.7%). The team also claims mass production of thousands of identical chips per wafer at about $5 per chip. Findings were published in Nature Photonics and demonstrated 10,000x greater sensitivity than ELISA in spotting lung-cancer biomarkers.