{"id":1906,"date":"2024-11-22T10:59:30","date_gmt":"2024-11-22T00:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/alumni-stories\/?p=1906"},"modified":"2024-11-22T10:59:30","modified_gmt":"2024-11-22T00:29:30","slug":"xuan-luo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.flinders.edu.au\/alumni-stories\/2024\/11\/22\/xuan-luo\/","title":{"rendered":"Creating a green solution to reduce plastic medical waste"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><br \/>\nImagine a system for reading human disease biomarkers that can vastly reduce medical plastic waste \u2013 and can achieve results for medical teams in faster time, from days to only minutes. This milestone has been realised by Dr Xuan Luo (DipCommInfTech \u201808, BHumNut \u201812, MBiotechSt \u201814, PhD(Med) \u201819), a dynamic and creative researcher at Flinders University\u2019s Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Dr Luo pursued this research path after considering the greatest problems requiring green science solutions, and high on the list she identified unnecessary plastic medical waste, an escalating dilemma that produces millions of tons of waste annually, especially in diagnostic research.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was obvious to me that producing a better and sustainable biomarker testing platform would reduce waste, cost and time \u2013 and that this would have a huge impact on medical testing,\u201d explains Dr Luo. \u201cThe solution was to develop a biodegradable membrane system that could perform all the same testing tasks as the current plastic apparatus \u2013 but more efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After completing her PhD at Flinders, Dr Luo sought inspiration from her academic supervisors, mentors and colleagues to chart her next step in scientific research. Drawn to the green chemistry innovations of Professor Colin Raston AO at Flinders\u2019 College of Science, Dr Luo chose to explore a new direction for Professor Raston\u2019s radical invention, the Vortex Fluidic Device, which has revolutionised nanotechnology research. Expanding on the VFD concept, she helped develop the Portable Vortex Fluidic Device (P-VFD), an advanced immunoassay platform featuring a membrane insert for swift and cost-effective detection of biomarkers.<\/p>\n<p>Having secured fundings from the Flinders Foundation Health Seed Grant, the Flinders Research Investment Fund and the Australian Nanotechnology Network Overseas Fellowship to advance this research, Dr Luo and the team successfully developed a prototype capable of replacing the traditional plastic assay plates used in testing. This innovation has been filed for a provisional patent, and discussions are underway with potential industry partners.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the path hasn\u2019t been straightforward, this research marks an important breakthrough in advancing sustainable testing methods. Until now, biomarker detection has been challenged by high costs, lengthy assays and complex instrumentations, which have limited its accessibility to specialised labs,\u201d says Dr Luo.<\/p>\n<p>The results of the P-VFD platform exceeded her expectations, with the most significant achievement being the detection of biomarkers for motor neurone disease, achieved in collaboration with neuroscientist Associate Professor Mary-Louise Rogers, and a dramatic reduction in assay time, from three days to just five minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Luo is currently refining the platform to enhance its sensitivity and specificity in detecting multiple biomarkers simultaneously. Her goal is to demonstrate the potential of this cost-effective, time-efficient and environmentally-friendly system for broader applications in human disease biomarker testing.<\/p>\n<p>While pleased with the progress of the P-VFD research, Dr Luo remains focused on advancing green biomedical solutions. \u201cThis registers a big improvement on the current system, but I am confident of so much more \u2013 especially in testing whether it can detect biomarkers for a growing number of diseases, and so our work continues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr Xuan Luo was awarded a 2024 Distinguished Alumni Award for her significant contributions to the fields of biotechnology and nanotechnology, and as an advocate for sustainable manufacturing in the healthcare sector.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Imagine a system for reading human disease biomarkers that can vastly reduce medical plastic waste \u2013 and can achieve results for medical teams in faster time, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1448,"featured_media":1907,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5835,828,2081,2084],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2024-alumni-awards","category-college-of-medicine-and-public-health","category-study-medicine","category-study-science"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.8 - 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