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APRIL 2019 I FLEX007 MAGAZINE 43 Conclusion The intent of this column was to make you aware of some of the issues that need to be considered as you navigate the waters that stretch between product conception and man- ufacture using flexible circuit technology. Flex- ible circuits are a very attractive interconnec- tion technology, but you must be attentive to the many factors that can spell the difference between success and failure. In closing, I invite you to download a free copy of Flexible Circuit Technology, 4 th Edition to fill in more of the detail needed to make the journey. The book can be found and down- loaded at flexiblecircuittechnology.com. FLEX007 Joe Fjelstad is founder and CEO of Verdant Electronics and an interna- tional authority and innovator in the field of electronic interconnection and packaging technologies with more than 150 patents issued or pending. To read past columns or contact Fjelstad, click here. The new device could continuously capture cancer cells directly from the vein, screening much larger vol- umes of a patient's blood. In animal tests, the cell-grab- bing chip in the device trapped 3.5 times as many cancer cells per milliliter of blood compared to the traditional blood draw samples. The device shrinks a machine that is typically the size of an oven down to something that could be worn on the wrist and connected to a vein in the arm. In the next steps for the device, the team hopes to increase the blood processing rate. Then, they will use the optimized system to capture cancer cells from pet dogs that come to the cancer center as patients. Chips tar- geting proteins on the surfaces of canine breast cancer cells are under development in the Nagrath lab now. Hayes estimates the device could begin human trials in three to five years. It would be used to help to optimize treat- ments for human cancers by enabling doctors to see if the cancer cells are making the molecules that serve as targets for many newer cancer drugs. [Source: University of Michigan] A prototype wearable device, tested in animal models, can continuously collect live cancer cells directly from a patient's blood. Developed by a team of engineers and doctors at the University of Michigan, it could help doctors diagnose and treat cancer more effectively. Tumors can release more than 1,000 cancer cells into the bloodstream in a single minute. Current methods of capturing cancer cells from blood rely on samples from the patient—usually no more than a tablespoon taken in a single draw. Some blood draws come back with no cancer cells, even in patients with advanced cancer, and a typi- cal sample contains no more than 10 cancer cells. Wearable Device Captures Cancer Cells from Blood