Circulating microRNAs (miRNAs) are small molecules released into the bloodstream that carry information about what is happening inside the body's cells. Scientists have shown that the presence or absence of specific combinations of these molecules in a blood sample can signal the early onset of diseases, including cancer, offering the prospect of simple, minimally invasive testing as an alternative to more complex diagnostic procedures.
Despite this promise, no simple, affordable, and accurate blood test based on this principle has yet been made widely available. The MiRACLE project addressed this gap by developing a novel optical detection platform capable of directly identifying and measuring these molecular signals from a blood sample, without the need for complex laboratory preparation steps. The platform combines a dedicated biochemical detection assay with an optical imaging system and artificial intelligence-based analysis, enabling a panel of disease-relevant molecules to be detected simultaneously in a single measurement, faster, simpler, and at lower cost than currently available approaches.
The overall objective of this Proof of Concept project was to advance this technology originally demonstrated in a research laboratory setting under prior ERC-funded basic research, toward a robust, clinically relevant diagnostic tool, and to test its real-world performance using blood samples from cancer patients. Beyond this initial application, the platform is designed to be broadly applicable to the detection of disease signals across many conditions, with the potential to bring affordable, minimally invasive molecular diagnostics to a much wider patient population.
