KTH is home to a new research project in droplet microfluidics and nanowire technology, aiming to develop techniques for rapid detection of cancer cells circulating in patients’ blood. The team has set an ambitious target of a clinical sensitivity of one cancer cell per millilitre of blood.

The pharmaceutical industry is facing a financial meltdown. The cost of bringing new drugs to market has doubled over the last 15 years, and in 2010 the total bill for medical research in the U.S. and Europe reached a staggering $70 billion. At the same time, fewer new drugs are reaching consumers. Now three KTH researchers are working feverishly to lower the cost of developing new medicines — with a sensor no bigger than a single cell.