Media

CRP level in the blood is an important indicator reflecting the level of the inflammation of patients. It is currently tested by blood analysis which cannot provide real-time information of the patients. In order to continuously monitor some proteins or biomarker levels in the human body, the common approach is to perform regular blood analysis every certain period of time. However, it would still need hours or longer to complete one test.

Recently, a University of Hong Kong (HKU) research team comprised of researchers from Engineering and Medicine, has developed a C-reactive protein (CRP) sensor integrated onto a medical catheter for direct CRP sensing. This organic sensor has a total thickness less than one micrometer (~1/50 of Asian human hair), which can significantly save the time for sample and data collection, from currently a few hours to 10 minutes or less. In other words, testing and curing of inflammation can be speeded up by 30 times. The real-time signal read out has a great potential in allowing the doctors to take necessary immediate actions.

The research team is led by Dr Paddy Chan Kwok-leung of the Mechanical Engineering Department, in collaboration with Professor Gilberto Leung Ka-kit (Tsang Wing-Hing Professor in Clinical Neuroscience) and Dr Anderson Tsang Chun-on of Surgery, and Professor Xu Aimin of Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy. This organic device can measure the biological information in real-time with very little sample volume. Ultra-flexible sensors are very popular research areas and their applications cover electronic, smart sensing and etc.

This mechanically flexible organic electronic device developed by Dr Chan’s team, as a demonstration of concept, is to measure the biological information in real-time. This device can sense the CRP level down to 1ug/mL, and hence more sufficient to deviate the health condition of the patients. The research finding was published recently in journal Advanced Science.

The research team will meet the media to share the research findings. Details of the press briefing are as follows:

Date: July 5, 2018 (tomorrow)
Time: 10:30 – 12:00 noon
Venue: Conference Room, Room 515, 5/F, Haking Wong Building, HKU, Pokfulam, HK (MTR HKU Station Exit A2)

Spokespersons:
Dr Paddy Chan Kwok-leung, Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering
Professor Gilberto Leung Ka-kit (Tsang Wing-Hing Professor in Clinical Neuroscience), Department of Surgery, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine
Mr Ji Xudong, PhD student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering

Media enquiry:
Faculty of Engineering: Ms Rhea Leung (Tel: 3917 8519/ 9022 7446; Email: rhea.leung@hku.hk) or
Communication and Public Affairs Office: Ms Trinni Choy (Tel: 2859 2606/ Email: pychoy@hku.hk)