New microchip sensor measures stress hormones from drop of blood

A Rutgers-led team of researchers has developed a microchip that can measure stress hormones in real time from a drop of blood. Currently, measuring cortisol (a stress hormone) takes costly and cumbersome laboratory setups, so the Rutgers-led team looked for a way to monitor its natural fluctuations in daily life and provide patients with feedback that allows them to receive the right treatment at the right time. The researchers used the same technologies used to fabricate computer chips to build a nanowell array biosensor that can detect biomolecules at low levels. They validated the device's performance on 65 blood samples from patients with rheumatoid arthritis.