This implantable device uses living cells to monitor changes in the body. Image credit: Douglas Levere, University at BuffaloThe idea of implanting a device housing live cells into the body to act as a biosensenor able to detect changes and threats in the body is both technically difficult to achieve and very attractive to the scientific community.

Now, Efferent Labs, a small company in Buffalo, NY, has created a device that scans cells and fibroblasts with florescent light to detect any changes, wirelessly sending that updated information for instant analysis. It can be conveniently viewed on a tablet.

“When I am explaining it to doctors, all of a sudden a light goes on and they become very interested,” said Bill Rader, CEO and founder of the company in the University at Buffalo’s New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences.

Researchers hope to eventually use a patient’s cells to enhance individualized detection and treatment. Ultimately researchers aim to use the device to monitor cell-level changes in chemotherapy patients to help determine appropriate dosage levels.

Efferent Labs recently signed a partnership agreement with Evotec, a giant clinical research organization in Germany. It could lead to a rapid confirmation of the company’s invention.