WASHINGTON: In a significant discovery, researchers have invented a cheap and hand-held device to diagnose type-1 diabetes at home.

People who are at risk of developing type-1 diabetes can also benefit from the nanotech microchip-based device because it will allow doctors to quickly track if they can have the disease later in life.

"With the new test, not only do we anticipate being able to diagnose diabetes more efficiently and more broadly, we will also understand diabetes better," said Brian Feldman, an assistant professor at Stanford University's school of medicine.

The handheld microchips distinguish between the two main forms of diabetes mellitus - type-1 and type-2 - which are both characterized by high blood-sugar levels but have different causes and treatments.

The microchip relies on a fluorescence-based method for detecting the antibodies.

The team's innovation is that the glass plates forming the base of each microchip are coated with an array of nanoparticle-sized islands of gold, which intensify the fluorescent signal, enabling reliable antibody detection.

The test was validated with blood samples from people newly diagnosed with diabetes and from people without diabetes.