A €16.5 million research centre was launched today which aims to develop self-testing devices providing early detection of conditions such as heart disease and cancer.
The Minister for Enterprise Micheal Martin said the Centre for Future Diagnostics and Health, which will be located mainly at Dublin City University (DCU), would address a range of diseases which threaten people's health.
"Specifically, the centre will carry out cutting-edge research to develop a range of next-generation biomedical diagnostic devices that will directly affect the quality of people's lives worldwide over the coming decades.
"In addition to point-of-care applications, such as tests in doctors' surgeries, the centre will focus on developing accurate and reliable diagnostic devices suitable for self-test, home use, which will enable people to take control over the management of their own health.
"These devices will detect life-threatening events long before a critical stage is reached. "They will allow chronic disease to be controlled more effectively, thereby reducing hospital stays and saving lives," Mr Martin said.
The centre's director, Brian MacCraith of DCU said research would focus on conditions such as cardiovascular disease, which accounted for 38 per cent of deaths in Ireland last year. Prof MacCraith said the centre aimed to create `a lab on a chip' in which a cheap, disposable biochip could be used at home for people to test for the antibodies which indicated various diseases.
"Ultimately, the combined scientific challenge lies primarily in creating reliable, miniaturised systems in which the presence of very low concentrations of disease-related molecules in a sample of blood, urine, sweat, saliva or breath can be tested with exquisite sensitivity," he said.
The devices will use a range of cutting-edge technology and the research and development will involve scientists from a number of institutions including the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, NUI Galway and the Tyndall National Institute in Cork.
In addition to the €16.5 million funding from the Government, awarded through Science Foundation Ireland, €6 million is being provided by industrial partners including Becton Dickinson, Analog Devices, Hospira, Inverness Medical Innovations, Amic and Enfer.
The centre will provide around 60 jobs and William Harris, director general of SFI, said the initiative would have far-reaching implications for the Irish economy.
"The medical device and diagnostics sector represents a vibrant growth area within the Irish economy and has been highlighted as one of the areas in which Ireland can develop a position of competitive strength, differentiation and critical mass," he said.